Don't You (Forget About Me)
by Charlotte LaBouff
Summary: As a whole, Pinkerton barely changed as its students grew older. Sadie Macbeth never abandoned her tyrannical ways, and the Invisible Network never found cause to disband. However, as Macbeth's plans for ultimate rule become increasingly more dangerous, it's only a matter of time before the consequences become deadly. Rated for very coarse language and mature themes.
1. Old Differences

**_Title:_** **Don't You Forget About Me**

 ** _Summary:_ ****As a whole, Pinkerton barely changed as its students grew older. Sadie Macbeth never abandoned her tyrannical ways, and the Invisible Network never found cause to disband. However, as Macbeth's plans for ultimate rule become increasingly more dangerous, it's only a matter of time before the consequences become deadly.**

 **Thus, the fog begins to settle.**

 **The past catches up with Vin, proving that one cannot hide from their problems forever. Soon he will have to face the music as a man, and not as the scared child he knows he is. Zero must become more invested in the future as a result of her own mistakes – the mistakes she continues to make, marring her life in the worst of ways, creating scars as deep as valleys. Trixie now struggles to keep the seams between the four of them from splitting apart, afraid to lose those she considers family to problems far greater than they can imagine.** **Newton only wants the best for those he loves, but sometimes opening those doorways means exposing oneself to the brutal reality of life. Life, which is meaningless without them.**

 **And so the final stretch begins. The clock is ticking, and it's only a matter of time before it's all over.**

 ** _Rating:_ T (13+, but hey, I ain't your mum.)**

 ** _Chapter Summary:_ 'Tis here we lay our scene; Vin and Trixie discuss traumatic experiences of the past, and Macbeth is up to her usual games, however this time the cost is much more deadly.**

 ** _Chapter Word Count:_ 3855**

* * *

 ***Steps on-stage dramatically, hands raised. Glittery confetti shoots from strategically placed cannons.***

 **Greetings! I have arrived! And with me, I've brought you the INK fic we've all been waiting for . . .**

 ***drumroll***

 **One with good grammar!**

 **Yes, ladies and gentlemen, no longer shall you be subjected to reading stories with abysmal spelling and grammar. That ain't a problemo here. Oh, and there's plot too. Because I am a sad seventeen year old with no life, who is still tragically in love with the tv show she adored at age 11. Fight me.**

 **All I shall give now is a forewarning: these little guys are proper teenagers now. Therefore, they behave accordingly. This story is rated for bucketloads of coarse language, and mature themes. I'd say I'm sorry, but I'm not. Writing this is _fun_ , man.**

 **Well, turrah. :D**

* * *

 **1 - Old Differences**

Imagination only worked until the point of complete stupidity. Science, on the other hand, was the root of it. The ideas had to come from somewhere, after all.

'She's not going to try _again_. Don't be ridiculous.'

'Four years gives her a lot of time to think.'

'To think of what? I really don't think she'll be – well, it's stupid, Trix. She's too stupid for this.'

'It wasn't stupid when she managed it the first time.'

For the first time in a long while, Trixie's words rendered Vin completely silent. After a moment of gaping like a fish, trying to come up with something - _anything_ \- to respond with, he exhaled slowly and sat down on the floor, looking up at her as she perched in her swivel-chair. 'So what do we do?'

'What we do best,' Trixie replied, chewing her lip anxiously. 'Wait.'

He gave a short, bitter laugh at this. 'I hate it when you're right.'

Her green eyes snapped up to meet his. 'I don't like it any more than you do. But we don't have even the slightest clue how she's going to go about this. The watch is long gone.'

'We don't know that.' Vin chewed his lip absently, glaring at a spot of carpet beside his left ankle. 'As far as I know, she has no way of getting it back, but I could easily be wrong.'

Trixie nudged him with her toe. 'Hey. It'll be fine. She definitely won't have the watch. It's been too long for that.'

'I s'pose.'

They both went silent again. Vin didn't move, save for the scarce few times his eyes flickered up to the clock, or over at Trixie, who was tapping away at her phone. After a moment or two, she peered over the top of it, her gaze questioning.

'Are you ever going to tell them?' she asked quietly.

Vin didn't reply, though he knew exactly what she was talking about. After the horrific time-travel incident all those years ago, he was the only one who came away with the memories. Trixie discovered it by pure fluke a few months later, as the nightmares still plagued him often enough that he would spend the early hours of the morning curled up in headquarters on the couch, fighting the fatigue. She never asked whenever she found him, but pieced parts of the story together herself from the frenzied mutterings he let out when asleep. He eventually told her the rest some time later, though it took a long while to warm up to the subject.

Zero and Newton however, were just as clueless as the day after Vin had set things right – he'd erased absolutely _everything_ when he returned Macbeth back to their old self. For them, nothing had happened. And, as far as he was concerned, they didn't need to know.

Trixie lowered her phone and caught his gaze, refusing to break it. 'Vin.'

'I don't know,' he said quietly, shrugging. 'If it gets to be . . . relevant, then I guess so.'

She exhaled slowly, then nodded. 'I suppose you're right. They don't need that burden. But -' She cut off as the sound of voices echoed through the ventilation shaft into the room. The door had been abandoned years ago when Newton's misshapen experiments were starting to draw attention, and since then they had subjected themselves to crawling through the single vent system that led into headquarters.

'. . . and I don't get it. _How? Why?_ Did you –'

'You shut your mouth right now you little fuckwad, and don't breathe a _word_ to anyone. _Got it?_ '

'Yeah . . . but, oh my _god_ . . .'

' _Newton._ '

Trixie arched a single eyebrow and got up from her chair, before standing on tiptoe and looking up into the shaft. 'Everything alright in there, guys?'

There was the sharp sound of someone being slapped, then a yelp, before Zero's voice responded. 'Yeah. All good.' Then Newton was promptly shoved out of the shaft, landing sharply on top of Trixie. They both hit the ground with no lack of shrieking, before Zero slid gracefully out of the vent after him.

'Sorry,' she said, offering Trixie a hand and helping her up. 'Newton was being slow and wouldn't kick his ass into gear.'

The ginger in question very pointedly scrunched his nose up at her and readjusted his glasses, before getting to his feet and muttering to himself, annoyance apparent in his tone. Vin chose to pretend not to have heard their conversation in the vent. Judging by her impassive expression as she got to her feet, so did Trixie.

'Any news?' Vin asked folding his arms and looking at Zero. She shrugged slightly, before walking over to grab a hairband from the computer table.

'Nothing new from what I could tell,' she replied, pulling her rib-length, static charged hair into a ponytail. 'She's definitely up to something, though. An unusually large crate of engineering parts arrived this morning.'

Vin and Trixie exchanged a dubious glance. Newton meanwhile, plopped down in Trixie's recently vacated chair and switched on the computer, scribbling something on a notepad while he did so.

'I thought we were just grappling at strings here,' Zero continued. 'But then again, we might be onto something big. What do you guys reckon?'

'It's definitely a possibility,' Trixie agreed. 'Perhaps she might be retrying her old experiments. You know, some of the more psychotic ones.'

Wait a minute. _Where was she going with this?_

Vin looked pointedly at her with his eyebrows raised, shaking his head ever so slightly in warning. She ignored his alarm, and he indignantly responded with a strange little hand-flail.

'Define "psychotic",' Zero said with a smirk, pulling up a chair and sitting on it backwards, folding her arms on the back.

'Butterflies, voodoo zombies, various forms of hypnosis, and substances that are most likely classed as illicit drugs in some countries – need I go on?'

Zero burst into laughter. 'Man, now I think about it, it's nuts, huh?'

'The point is, we might be seeing Round Two of all that.'

Vin snorted. 'I do _not_ want to deal with that zombie thing again,' he said, going along with the line Trixie had thrown. At least this topic of discussion was on the same path of what the two of them really thought was happening, however vaguely. He finally got to his feet and wandered over to see what Newton was doing, sticking a hand on Zero's head and shoving her down playfully as he passed. Her foot immediately shot out in retaliation to trip him up, and he stumbled, not quite managing to dart away in time. He stuck his tongue out at her, and she rolled her eyes.

'Any thoughts?' Vin asked, nudging Newton with his elbow as he looked at the assortment of computer screens that were currently switched on, seeing Google tabs, Excel graphs, Notepad, and Command Prompt all open at once, plus a number of other programs Vin couldn't recognise. He mentally referred to them all as "porn", because if that didn't stick in his head, then certainly nothing else would.

'Huh?' Newton responded distractedly, punching a series of numbers into a log box. 'Yeah, good idea. Go with it.'

'I didn't give you a damn idea, idiot. I'm asking _you_ for one.'

'Sure, sure . . . seven, three, five, nine, two, dash . . .'

Vin sighed and leaned against the desk, staring at the top of Newton's head with a raised eyebrow. 'Hey Trix, be a pal, would you? Get over here and make out with me.'

'Yeah, fine,' Trixie replied absently, tapping on her phone once more. 'Just give me a minute.'

Newton gave some weird, knee-jerk reaction and promptly toppled the chair, taking Vin down with it. They both hit the ground with a heavy crash, and after a beat of complete silence he nearly pissed himself laughing at the expression on Newton's face.

'That's what you get for having selective hearing, man,' he gasped, eyes streaming. Newton socked him upside the face, but a reluctant laugh bubbled from his throat.

'You're an ass.'

Vin grinned and ruffled a hand in his hair, preening. 'Why, thank you.'

'What were you asking me about?' Newton got to his feet and stood the chair back up, now looking at Vin with a higher level of attention.

'Trixie was suggesting that Macbeth might be "recycling" old methods. You know, refining and perfecting them, to catch us off guard since we wouldn't be suspecting it.'

He nodded thoughtfully, his eyebrows tugging together beneath his glasses. 'I guess it's a possibility. What makes you think that, Trix?'

 _Oh shit._

That was a question they had not been prepared for. Vin and Trixie both froze, unsure of how to dodge this. Vin watched her carefully out of the corner of his eye, and his heart rate began to rise as she hesitated.

Giving their reasoning meant disclosing the past. All of it. Obviously, the generalised suggestion was a stupid topic – it had to lead back around to the incident at some point or another – just Vin hadn't really thought that far through it all yet. Neither, it seemed, had Trixie.

They hesitated for a moment too long. Zero narrowed her eyes and got up from her chair, circling around to stand before them. She arched a single, white-blonde eyebrow.

'You know something,' she said in a low, accusing voice. 'You know something and you're not telling us.'

Vin tilted his head at her, trying to seem nonchalant. 'And why the hell would you think that?'

'I'm not an idiot, Vin,' she snapped. 'But then again, I was just talking to Trixie. You didn't have to drag yourself in.'

Vin faltered, fighting a wave of embarrassment as a heavy flush coloured his face and neck. 'Well how was I supposed to know that?'

Zero ignored him. 'Trix, what's going on?'

Trixie raised her chin, not affected by the other girl's piercing gaze. Vin looked at her insistently, panic rising once more in his gut.

 _Don't do it,_ he thought desperately _. Please don't; she'll kill me. They'll both kill me._

He never should have hidden it. He should have told them they'd been _wiped from existence_ , and that . . . that Zero had admitted to some kind of affection, deep down. Not that Vin was still sure he believed it – they were twelve. Times change.

Trixie sighed. 'I've been getting donkey vibes.'

Vin flinched, then processed what she'd just said.

'Donkey vibes,' Zero repeated incredulously. ' _Donkey vi_ \- Oh, hell no. I'm not going through that again.'

'I just said vibes,' Trixie cut in. 'Well, something of the like. I think we're about to be hit in the face with another hypnosis situation again. You know Macbeth has no originality.'

'This is just a gut feeling?' Newton asked, wrinkling his forehead. 'Trix, we can't do much just based on a _g -'_

'Yes, okay, it's fine,' Trixie said, cutting in. 'Just drop it.'

A flood of relief washed over Vin as the subject was – for once – dropped. He'd have to thank her later; probably with chocolate, if he could find any. Zero made a funny noise in the back of her throat and sat down again, whilst Newton simply turned back to the computer.

'Newton, what exactly are you trying to do?' Trixie asked, peering suspiciously over his shoulder. 'I swear if you mess with my mouse settings, I'll -'

'Trust me, I'm not screwing around with that again,' Newton assured her, now intently studying what seemed to be a blueprint of Pinkerton's security system. 'I'd rather keep my bits intact, thanks.'

'Well, then?'

'I've noticed some of the cameras in the building have been disabled, but I can't find a pattern in it. I'm trying to figure out why. There's one in the girl's dormitory just outside Van's room, and another by the basement.' He pointed to the blueprint, where small, red dots indicated the lack of video footage. 'See? And that's only two of them. There's at least ten out-of-commission at the moment.'

'Yeah, I don't think you'll want to fix Van's,' Vin sniggered. 'You'll probably catch her and Burt going at it again.'

Newton flushed, and screwed his face up in revulsion. 'Fuck off. At least I disconnected that one straight away. I'm not a freak.'

Zero let out a bark of laughter, which she tried to disguise as a cough. 'Yeah, Vin. You would've been all "free porn", and stuck around.'

'I'm not saying you're wrong,' he replied, shrugging nonchalantly, 'but you're wrong.'

She snorted. 'Yeah, sure, you sicko.'

Vin swatted her on the arm, and she punched back twice as hard. He yelped when that triggered a spark of pain and a small pop, before rolling out his shoulder thoughtfully. 'Huh. I think you made my arm better.'

'Wasn't meant to be a favour, dickhead.'

'Oh, you still love me.'

'Shut up.' Zero punched him again, grinning when he made an indignant noise.

' _Anyway_ ,' Newton continued, cutting in, 'it might be something worth taking a look at. If Macbeth _is_ up to something, we'll need all the information we can get.'

'See what else you can find first,' Zero said. 'Then, if we need to, Vin and I can have a look around.'

Trixie made a murmured noise of agreement, before opening her own copy of the security database on her phone and poring over it without another word.

Afternoon gradually faded into night, and eventually the four of them left for dinner without any further discoveries.

As a whole, Pinkerton was still the small boarding school it had been when it was first established. Determining its innovative value entirely depended on the success outcome of the students who would graduate after completing their final year of schooling. Should this go well, similar institutions would be produced. Thus, little had changed since Vin had first arrived here many years ago, fresh out of the orphanage and too distrusting of the world to believe there was such thing as true, genuine kindness. Though the school may not have budged an inch, he certainly had.

Zero stirred her tea thoughtfully while Trixie and Newton poured over the day's math homework. Vin watched her for a short moment over the rim of his own cup, a strange sort of anxiety settling in the bottom of his stomach.

To be honest, he hadn't needed to give The Incident any thought for a long time. But now, since it was back on the table (considering Macbeth had spent that morning very pointedly teaching them all about the "science" behind time travel, and how that was the _true_ reason as to why babies didn't come from storks anymore) his brain kept reminding him of what he'd done at the most damn _inconvenient_ times, and the fact that he was going to be in a lot of shit if the truth got out.

Remarkably enough, that didn't help.

Neither did the fact that Burt and Van had chosen to have another one of their lovers' spats just outside the cafeteria.

' _. . . well it's not my freaking fault, is it?'_

' _Yes it is! You were supposed to remember, damn it!'_

'Then maybe we should break this off for a while.'

'What the _hell?'_

'Van -'

'You know what; fine. I always knew you were fucking cheating anyways.'

' _I told you -'_

Zero elbowed Vin in the ribs, startling him. 'Stop nosing.'

He pulled a face at her. 'Come on, this is the fifth fight this week. It's like a train wreck – it's awful, but you can't stop watching.'

She scoffed. 'Yeah, but it's none of your business.'

'Do you reckon he _has_ been cheating?'

Zero quirked a careful eyebrow. 'Why do you care?'

'Because you'd have to be pretty stupid to be the person _Burt_ cheats with.'

She narrowed her eyes. ' _Stupid_ ,' she repeated. ' _Really_ , Vin?'

'Well, yeah.' Vin shrugged. 'I mean, we all know what Van's like. She'd cut that bitch in half.'

'Cut _you_ in half, maybe. She'd be upside down on a coatrack before she even got _near_ me.' She shook her head incredulously, before getting to her feet. 'I've got to go – but, _honestly_ , Vin. Reassess your priorities.'

Vin watched her leave, feeling slightly miffed about her statement. Though, despite her unusually decent composure, the back of her pale neck was flushed.

* * *

' _Trixie to I.N.K – according to my scan, the safe is alarmed. It's too complex to disable now; Sadie's coming. Bring it with you.'_

From their place in the rafters, Vin and Zero exchanged a careful nod, before Zero secured her rope and leapt down from the beam with her usual grace and dexterity. Vin guided it through his hands and lowered her toward the safe, which was not-so-discretely hidden behind the headboard of Macbeth's bed. He gave her a moment to grab the safe, which unexpectedly added ten kilos to the load on the rope, and hauled her up as quickly as possible. Wagner glared at him from the fish pipe that ran past his head, swimming back and forth agitatedly. Vin didn't have the energy to stop and leer – even when a bug proceeded to bite him on the collarbone. He yelped in surprise, and almost swatted it out of instinct.

'Hurry up!' Zero hissed, craning her neck to look up at him, making her sway dangerously. 'What's taking you so long?'

'Well I'm sorry, you doubled in weight when you grabbed that damn _steel_ safe!' he responded, voice squeaking ever so slightly with the physical strain.

' _Trixie to I.N.K; what's taking so long? Code Red, Macbeth's nearly there!'_

It was a good thing Vin had bound himself securely to the beam, or else he would have fallen off with that final tug. Zero had barely come high enough for him to grab her around the waist when Macbeth's bedroom door swung open far below them, and Sadie stalked in, muttering to herself. He pulled Zero up onto the rafter and wrapped his arms securely about her torso, giving her just enough time to fire the grappling gun at the roof vent before they went flying. The two of them tumbled into the shaft with a dull clunk, the safe hitting Vin in the gut and winding him for a moment. Zero turned on her headpiece.

' _Zero to Headquarters – we've got the safe. You can dispatch Newton to deactivate it.'_

' _Affirmative. Mission accomplished. You two are free to go,'_ Trixie's voice crackled in response, and the line cut out.

'We can't bring it back to Headquarters,' Vin said. 'There might be a tracking device in it.'

'No shit,' Zero said flatly. 'But it's Newton's problem now, and I really want to go to bed.' With that, she swivelled around on her butt and began crawling along the vent. Then she paused, looking back at him over her shoulder. 'You coming?'

'I – yeah. Okay.'

For a long moment all was silent except the quiet echoes made by their shoes. Vin winced as the bite on his neck started stinging more than it had before, and he gingerly reached up to touch it. The skin there had swollen up into a great lump, and pain shot through his entire body like an electrical shock when he touched it. His fingers came away red.

'One of these paths branches off to the air-con vents over the dorms,' Zero was saying. 'I think mine's nearer, but you can probably walk on foot to yours.'

Vin didn't reply. He was too busy looking at the dark, glossy substance that was now starting to dribble down his chest. The swelling had now become equivalent in size to a ping-pong ball.

'Uh, Zero?' he said quietly.

'You'll be fine to sneak out,' she continued, misinterpreting his hesitation. 'Everyone already thinks we're screwing, what with how often you're in my room. The prospect of you walking out of there with the dodgiest look on your face probably won't change anything.'

'No, I . . .' He tried to plug the blood flow with his hand, only making the pain worse. He yelped like a wounded animal, and Zero spun around.

'Oh shit,' she whispered, eyes going wide. ' _Fuck._ ' She grabbed him by the wrist and pulled him towards her to assess the damage. 'Vin, don't pass out on me, got it? _You're not allowed to close your eyes.'_

Vin could only shake his head mutely. His vision was blurring, and he was only semi-aware of Zero tugging him along the vent, and speaking to someone on her headset. Her voice a lot higher than usual, and she sounded freaked out. That was a bit odd, he thought dumbly. Zero never worried. She never worried about _anything_.

She suddenly stopped dragging him, and pulled up one of the grate panels, before pulling Vin in close to her and swinging down. They landed with a thud on a bed that seemed somewhat familiar. Zero dumped him flat on his back and hovered over him, looking terrified. Her mouth was forming a single word, over and over again . . .

She shook him by the shoulders, and it felt like a giant bubble had exploded in his head. He could hear again, just a little bit.

'Vin!' she was saying. 'Vin, listen to me, damnit!'

Her edges were blurry. Weird.

A spot on her pale cheek was smeared red. Smeared, like the mascara under her eyes, but that was black, not crimson . . .

'You're bleeding,' he said simply, before wincing as another shock of pain went through him.

'It's your blood, idiot,' Zero choked out. 'What the hell did you _do?_ '

'My blood,' he repeated faintly, ignoring her. 'It's in your hair.' He reached out to touch it, tangling one of the white-blonde locks in his fingers. The blood was vibrant in contrast to it, but he liked the blonde better. 'So pretty.'

It was getting darker.

'You're fucking delirious, Vin; don't you _dare_ go to sleep! Trixie and Newton are coming, they'll know what to do.'

'So . . . pretty . . .'

' _Vin!_ ' She smacked him upside the face with enough force to send a shock through his system, and he let out a yelp of pain. ' _Don't go to sleep!_ ' Her hands were shaking as she pulled his head into her lap, and began poking his face.

'Why . . . y'doin . . . that . . .'

' _Keeping. You. Awake,'_ she hissed. 'But _I'm_ not the scientist around here, so I have no clue if this will even work!' She pressed the pads of her fingers with considerable force against his cheeks, his nose, his temples, his mouth . . .

It felt like he was he was drowning. He heard a door crash open dully in the distance, shouting, talking . . .

The last thing he saw before he was pulled under was bright blue irises, and the blonde . . .

* * *

 **28/2/17**


	2. This Is Us

**_Title:_** **Don't You Forget About Me**

 ** _Summary:_ ****As a whole, Pinkerton barely changed as its students grew older. Sadie Macbeth never abandoned her tyrannical ways, and the Invisible Network never found cause to disband. However, as Macbeth's plans for ultimate rule become increasingly more dangerous, it's only a matter of time before the consequences become deadly.**

 **Thus, the fog begins to settle.**

 **The past catches up with Vin, proving that one cannot hide from their problems forever. Soon he will have to face the music as a man, and not as the scared child he knows he is. Zero must become more invested in the future as a result of her own mistakes – the mistakes she continues to make, marring her life in the worst of ways, creating scars as deep as valleys. Trixie now struggles to keep the seams between the four of them from splitting apart, afraid to lose those she considers family to problems far greater than they can imagine.** **Newton only wants the best for those he loves, but sometimes opening those doorways means exposing oneself to the brutal reality of life. Life, which is meaningless without them.**

 **And so the final stretch begins. The clock is ticking, and it's only a matter of time before it's all over.**

 ** _Rating:_ T (13+, but hey, I ain't your mum.)**

 ** _Chapter Summary:_ It turns out the plot behind Vin's poisoning is a lot deeper than it would seem. And Zero had a marginally problematic childhood. Big surprise there. **

**_Chapter Word Count:_ 3536**

* * *

 **Thank you all so much for the love last chapter! So here, have another one.**

* * *

 **2 - This Is Us**

'I honestly don't understand what Macbeth was going for with this thing,' Newton said quietly, turning away from the screen where he'd input all his data. 'It makes no sense – a bug that knocks people out, but also causes intensive bleeding? Logically that would kill them, but she's never done something like that before.'

'It might have been a prototype for something,' Zero put in, looking up from where she'd been absently staring at Vin's index finger for the past five minutes. 'The thing that bit him could've been some sort of failed experiment that escaped.'

'Maybe . . . I just – why would she make a creature purely with the purpose of incapacitation? I mean, really!'

' _Sadie Macbeth_ , Newton. Are you really fucking surprised?'

'So you really think there's no easy solution to this?' Trixie asked, draping a blanket over Vin's still form, tucking it in around his shoulders.

'I'm sorry, Trix, but there's no doubt about it.'

They all fell silent.

Headquarters had been nearly overturned due to what had just happened. When Trixie and Newton had finally gotten to Zero's room, they'd found a near-hysterical Zero and an unconscious Vin, both of whom completely drenched in blood. Zero wasn't exactly proud of how she had responded to the situation, but then again, none of them had been heavily gushing fluid from the neck before. They'd managed to patch up Vin and bring him up to Headquarters, where they spent the next hour doing everything they could to analyse and treat the wound. Newton had then discovered it was far from a natural bite.

Now Vin was lying on the table draped with a clean sheet, and hooked up to a number of Newton's gadgets to ensure he didn't flatline suddenly. Blood was still trying valiantly to seep through the bandaging Trixie had applied. The sight of it all made her sick to the stomach.

'Well,' she said, her voice a bit gravelly, 'if there was a way of extracting the poison, maybe his body will heal on its own.'

'That's what I've done,' Newton replied grimly. 'Now all we can do is wait.'

'Considering the average lifespan of a fly, which is most likely what it was, that thing should die in a few days – if it hasn't already,' Trixie mused, tapping her pen against the corner of her mouth. 'I don't think anyone else is in immediate danger.'

'Yeah, well since that's all good and fixed,' Zero replied, brow creasing into a frown, 'what are we going to do about Vin? Soper's going to notice when he doesn't turn up to class, and we can't pretend he's just got the flu or something. It's a bit hard to do that when he's comatose.'

'We could treat this whole incident like your traditional spider bite,' Trixie said after a moment's pause. 'You know, get him admitted to hospital and everything. Except that would draw more attention to the situation than we'd like. Especially from Macbeth.'

Zero's lips curled in a snarl. 'I'll give _her_ a piece of my mind, and then she'll be seeing the bottom of the garbage can.'

'Zero -' Trixie began, eyes pleading.

'Look, if I hadn't been there, Vin would have died of blood loss all alone up in that damn vent. _Died!_ From something _Macbeth_ _created!_ I don't know about you, but I think this time she's gone too far. Someone's not gonna live out the year.'

'I _know_ ; I'm upset too. But we've got to think this through rationally, otherwise there's going to be more casualties. She could have a lot more than just a bug up her sleeve.'

'Oh yeah?' Zero said in a low tone, rising from her seat. ' _Try me._ I'm not going down that easy.'

'I _know!_ ' Trixie snapped again, finally succumbing to the hostile energy surrounding them and striding forward. 'But what the hell do you expect me to do, huh? Go in to face Macbeth with guns blazing, possibly blowing our cover? Get ourselves expelled blindly fighting a battle we know nothing about, or worse, _killed?_ Because I sure as hell know Vin would much rather have you alive than dead, and that won't work out if you're in a casket come next week!'

'Guys . . .' Newton started, staring at one of the computer monitors with an apprehensive look on his face. He went ignored.

'Who says that's what's gonna happen? Maybe _\- I dunno_ \- I _won't_ get myself killed! But even if that is the case, I'd rather go down trying.'

'Trixie, Zero -'

'And what situation does that leave _us_ in, huh?' Trixie shot back, voice rising an octave. Her eyes had begun to gloss over - whether in anger or fear, Zero didn't know. 'If you die, then something happens to Vin, that leaves Newton and I all alone! _Alone!_ Do you understand what you're saying?'

' _Would you listen to me, goddamnit?'_ Newton's voice cut in as Zero opened her mouth to retort, and they whirled to see him pointing to the monitor, eyes panicked. 'Look at this!'

The two of them froze as they were made aware of a diagnosis in a highlighted section of the screen. Zero had no clue whatsoever what any of the words meant, but Trixie's expression slowly shifted from anger to horror as her eyes travelled down the paragraph. When she finished, her jaw slackened slightly.

'Oh my god.'

'I know,' Newton agreed, pushing off from the computer desk with his feet and sending the swivel-chair rolling across the floor. When he reached the chemical cabinet on the other side of the room (where the main door had formerly been, several years ago), he began pulling out a number of bottled substances, comparing and considering each of them.

'Would someone like to bring me into the loop, here?' Zero posed irritably, her eyes moving between the two of them. Trixie, who had just pulled out her phone in a hurried attempt to Google something, paused.

'I don't know how to explain it,' she admitted sheepishly, watching Zero with a calculating expression, 'but, well . . . remember the voodoo shampoo?'

'Could I honestly forget?' she deadpanned. Trixie sighed.

'And the love potion experiment?'

'. . . what? How is that related?'

'Well, look at these two situations side by side – the zombies incapacitated me, right? The poison got into my bloodstream and my body shut down in reaction to it, so I wouldn't die. And the love stinkbombs, with the way Macbeth manipulated them, it gave her complete control over those affected by it.'

'And?'

'The chemical make-up of the bug's poison is disturbingly similar to the voodoo analysis; that's what the computer's been trying to tell us. It also contains a stimulant that weakens an individual's control over their own brain and leaves them susceptible to outside interference.'

Zero paused, brain working madly, and looked at Trixie for a long moment before words came out, albeit haltingly. 'And the bleeding?'

'The poison – it's almost corrosive,' Newton muttered, squinting at the bottles as he began mixing together a number of chemical compounds. 'It cut straight through the muscle tissue almost like it was . . . seeking out the main arteries. Once it found a satisfactory conglomeration of blood vessels, the corrosion stops, and the poison allows itself to be carried throughout the blood stream.'

'You've got to be shitting me.'

'I assure you, I'm not,' he mumbled distractedly. He rolled the chair to a stop beside Vin, before carefully pouring a trickle of water down his throat. He followed it up with a small, white pill, before scribbling something else down on the back of his hand and rolling back to the computer.

'So, since you know what it is, does that mean you can fix it?'

'I can try,' he said with a shrug. 'So it starts with this.' He picked up a bucket, now wheeling over to the sink he'd installed a few years earlier. He filled it up, came back, and promptly dumped the water on top of Vin.

Zero hissed as the spray hit her and recoiled like a cat, looking at Newton with wild eyes. 'What the _hell?'_

'Sorry, but this is all I can do until I get a decent sample of the venom.'

Trixie looked at him incredulously, before getting a towel out of the cupboard and mopping up the mess. 'And what was this supposed to do, exactly?'

'Shock the nervous system, actually. I was hoping that would give me some sort of response that would help me figure out what to do next.'

'Just give him antibiotics or something,' Zero snapped, grabbing the towel from Trixie and drying Vin off as best as she could.

'You really think antibiotics are going to fix _this?_ '

'Well _fine_ , then. I'll go look around Macbeth's office. There's probably clues there.'

'Don't be ridiculous,' Trixie cut in, looking at her sharply. 'And what if there's more of those bugs?'

'Well I won't be stupid enough to get bitten. I like to think I'm a hair brighter than Mr Good-Looking over here.'

'That'll be hard to avoid. Look, we have to think rationally about this. We can't handle it like every other situation – bravado and blind stupidity only gets us so far. The stakes are higher here.' Her eyes flickered to Vin.

Zero growled, even though she knew this was an argument she'd lost a long time ago. She pointedly looked away, and made a show of roughly towelling Vin's hair dry. A moment later she nearly laughed aloud as she realised his indignation at such mistreatment. This boy and his looks, _honestly_. What was he going to say when he found out he had a welt the size of the European continent on his throat?

'Hang on . . .' Newton stared at Zero, his brow furrowed in deep thought.

'You better have a solution here, Ginge, or I swear to God -'

'No, I think I do,' he said, becoming animated as his eyes widened with some strange sort of light. 'What if it's not the venom, but the pheromones that are poisonous? Well, to a degree. But all the same, it'd be capable of incapacitation. What if the infection would respond to a stimulant? Or even more, an aphrodisiac, or something along those lines?'

'A _what?_ ' Zero asked, eyebrows shooting up her head. What the _fuck_ was an aphrodisiac?

Trixie inhaled sharply, clapping her hands over her mouth. 'You don't think -'

'Maybe. But it makes sense. It means they prey in this instance has no way of recovering before it dies of malnutrition. We're dealing with some serious Amazon-jungle style shit here. But how on _earth_ did Macbeth get a hold of something like this? And why hasn't _she_ been bitten?'

None of this was making any sense to Zero. Newton was contradicting literally _every_ statement he made, and it was sending her thought process all over the place. However, this didn't seem to be a problem to the others.

'I don't think it _does_ make sense. What's her overall plan here?' Trixie asked, frowning as she pulled one of Vin's eyelids back and studied the bloodshot mess beneath. 'I can't see an end goal, unless -' She froze, and stepped back, looking up as her mouth slipped open in horror. 'Unless it's a diversion.'

Zero nearly choked. ' _What?_ '

'The safe,' Trixie whispered faintly. 'What if there was a timer – something that activates itself the moment anyone who _isn't_ Macbeth walks into the room, through motion sensors or something – which released the insect . . . to protect whatever's in . . . the safe.'

Newton's eyes widened. 'We left it up in the vent.'

Suddenly it all clicked. The bug, Vin –

For a split second Zero thought she was going to vomit. 'And I left a bloody trail that leads straight from it to my room.'

Macbeth had already planned the endgame, long before they had been expecting it.

And now it had begun.

* * *

From what they knew, the safe was supposed to contain a small, mechanical robot that could crawl into the dormitories at night and inject its victims with a fluid that would turn them into what was essentially the mere shell of a human. A better word for it was probably "zombie".

Now, Newton and Zero were sitting up in the vent and staring at a slip of paper which sat where the safe had been half an hour ago.

 _Time's up._

It was printed in standard Times New Roman font, with black ink, on A4 printer paper. Not particularly terrifying. Yet something about those two words was enough to send the slightest thrill of fear through Zero's heart. She exchanged a worried glance with Newton as he picked up the paper and looked at it with an expression of dumb horror on his face.

'We're done for,' he whispered quietly. 'She'll kill us all.'

'No,' Zero snapped, snatching it from his hands. 'She's not that crazy. She's just stupid. And we can beat her – we always do. We just need to fix Vin first, and we'll figure something out.'

'We're gonna have to think fast, then,' Newton muttered. 'Because she probably knows you're a part of I.N.K., now, if she followed the blood to your room. She'll single you out, and then we'll really be in trouble.'

' _Then fix Vin_.'

'Fine,' Newton said abruptly, his tone becoming sharp as he raised his hands in defeat. ' _Fine._ I have an idea – a bad one at that - but it's worth a shot.' He then reached over and yanked out a small chunk of Zero's hair (she yelped loudly and punched his shoulder out of reflex) before putting it in a small test tube he miraculously produced from his pocket. 'Give me half an hour. I'll see what I can do.'

'What the fuck's that for?' Zero asked, gingerly rubbing her burning scalp.

'Aphrodisiac.'

'Will someone _please_ tell me what that means?'

'I honestly think you'd be better off if you didn't know.' And with that, he crawled back down the shaft and out of sight.

* * *

Zero certainly hadn't lived the most wholesome of lives.

When she was four, her grandmother had legally disowned her from all inheritance or financial support she could have received from extended family, purely because she was a bastard child. Her mother had never believed in marriage, or something of the sort, and until she turned fourteen, she never quite realised why. So she never saw any of her mother's family again, and since her dad had been an orphan, there was no one she could turn to besides her parents.

At six, she was told she was going to be a big sister. This concept was awfully foreign to her – she'd never quite gotten on with the other kids, and now she was supposed to be some sort of mentor to one – but for some reason it excited her. This, she told her dolls, was her chance to prove she was going to be the best big sister in the whole wide world. They'd only stared silently back at her with their plastic faces and blue-painted eyes, but she knew they agreed with her. She was intuitive that way. However, when her little brother finally arrived, he was stiff, blue-lipped and cold. Zero didn't really understand why, at the time, but he reminded her an awful lot of those dolls. Maybe that was why she threw them all in the garbage later that night, shaking and tearful. Every single one.

Her mom had seemed almost as sad as she was. She'd cuddled Zero in her lap and told her that these things happen sometimes, and that not all little baby brothers quite make it into the world, and that all they could do was hope that next time they were a little luckier. Though she believed her, Zero knew no one had loved that baby more than she did.

There never was a next time.

When she was ten, her mother disappeared. She left nothing behind except for the letter she put on Zero's bedside table in the middle of the night, saying that she really was very sorry, and she loved Zero more than anything in the world, but she had to leave. Zero didn't understand why she'd done it. Looking back on it however, her parents had fought on a particularly disturbing level. Maybe sometimes those spats had turned violent – she'd been too oblivious at the time to notice – but the point was that her mom had left her. For some reason her dad had never seemed quite as comforting.

A month later she ran away.

Through some strange miracle she'd managed to avoid falling into the grasp of social services, and hid herself in the city streets for a few weeks. She'd realised that if she didn't want to get hurt, she would have to be the one to hit first. So she taught herself basic self-defence, and five days after her flight from home, as she stared down at the unconscious body of a man who had grabbed her unawares on the subway, she realised with some strange sort of clarity that she had a gift for finding weak spots.

(From then on, the people on the subway were particularly wary around the ten-year-old who had somehow managed to incapacitate a grown man.)

Her freedom was short-lived, however.

She was caught trying to steal a man's wallet in the middle of November, too driven by her own freezing limbs to consider discretion. Nevertheless, she was caught and hauled down to the local police station, kicking and screaming.

'DON'T TAKE ME BACK DON'T TAKE ME BACK _DON'T TAKE ME BACK –'_

One of the officers brought her a blanket where she was balled up in the cold corner of the precinct, and though she had kind eyes, Zero reluctantly took it before shying away again, eyes flitting around in panic as she tried to source a way out of the situation. Though her brief time in the streets had turned her somewhat feral, she was still particularly sharp-minded for a child.

The man with the wallet somehow managed to see straight through her. While the police were busy with finding out where the hell she'd come from, he spoke to an officer in another room, shooting her furtive glances through the safety glass. Zero didn't care – she was too busy feeling both angry and terrified, balled up beneath the blanket and trying to warm her aching joints. Finally, an agreement was reached.

His name was Cosmo Soper. He was the principal of a recently established experimental-school which had the capabilities of catering to the needs of – putting it lightly – "problem children". It wasn't intended to be a large establishment; only approximately twenty children, all a similar age group.

Here was the catch – he was happy for Zero to attend.

It was a boarding school, he told her, eyes meeting hers in a way that said he knew _exactly_ why she'd run away. It could, for the meantime, be a new place to call home. Unfortunately, her family would have to be contacted to provide a small amount of funding – the rest would be handled by the government – and to legally enrol her, but she wouldn't have to go back to her dad, save for the summer holidays.

It had seemed too good to be true.

Obviously, it was what happened in the end. Between, however, was a lot of feral screaming, hissing, and bolts for freedom, because ten-year-old Zero was as irrational then as she was at sixteen. Not to mention she didn't trust this nice man one bit, because people were never nice. Her mom was the only nice person in the whole world, and her mom was gone. The kids at school were awful, her grandmother was awful, her dad was awful, that man on the subway – people _weren't_ nice.

The world wasn't nice.

But somehow, she was being offered a way out.

In the end, she took it.

So here she was, six years later, sitting by her best friend's metaphorical deathbed, and though she wouldn't admit it, holding his hand in so tight a grip her knuckles were white. Here she was, loving like she hadn't since Mom left. Here she was, with a tube of mascara borrowed from Trixie years ago that she still hadn't really returned. Here she was, part of a _secret_ agent group of _all things_. Here she was, messing around with weird gadgets and chemicals that Newton had made. Here she was, scraping together what little she knew about the world to write a half-decent essay. Here she was, filled with a true sense of belonging, of love, of _home –_

Here she was, with a family.

* * *

It was dark when Vin woke up. Zero nearly fell over in surprise, and then let out a shriek of horror when she realised he was vomiting.

But it wasn't vomit. It was too dark a red for that.

Having a family came with a cost.

* * *

 **27/3/17**


	3. Rain Keeps Falling Down

**Thank you for waiting, my loves.**

* * *

 ** _Title:_ Don't You Forget About Me**

 ** _Summary:_ ****As a whole, Pinkerton barely changed as its students grew older. Sadie Macbeth never abandoned her tyrannical ways, and the Invisible Network never found cause to disband. However, as Macbeth's plans for ultimate rule become increasingly more dangerous, it's only a matter of time before the consequences become deadly.**

 **Thus, the fog begins to settle.**

 **The past catches up with Vin, proving that one cannot hide from their problems forever. Soon he will have to face the music as a man, and not as the scared child he knows he is. Zero must become more invested in the future as a result of her own mistakes – the mistakes she continues to make, marring her life in the worst of ways, creating scars as deep as valleys. Trixie now struggles to keep the seams between the four of them from splitting apart, afraid to lose those she considers family to problems far greater than they can imagine.** **Newton only wants the best for those he loves, but sometimes opening those doorways means exposing oneself to the brutal reality of life. Life, which is meaningless without them.**

 **And so the final stretch begins. The clock is ticking, and it's only a matter of time before it's all over.**

 _ **Rating:**_ **T 13+, because reasons.**

 _ **Chapter Summary:**_ **Vin makes a dramatic return to the land of the living, and we get a little insight to Trixie's backstory. Just a teeny one. Meanwhile, Macbeth has to move on to Plan B.**

 _ **Chapter Word Count:**_ **2184**

* * *

 **3 – Rain Keeps Falling Down**

'Holyshitholyshitholyshit – _Newton, Code Red, we've got a problem! Code Red! Get your ass up here before he dies or something! –_ Vin, breathe, damn it!'

All Vin knew was that his lungs were on fire, his throat felt like it had been torn to shreds, and his head hurt like fuck. Zero blurred into existence in front of him, and he was semi-aware she was pulling him into a sitting position in an attempt to stop him from heaving.

That was when he realised he was drenched in blood and found cause to panic.

'Hneughhh -'

' _Holy fuck_ you're _alive_ , thank fucking God – Vin, I swear I'll never smoke again if youjust _live,_ for fuck's sake -'

It felt as though his temples were being repeatedly hit with a mallet. Stars danced in front of his eyes, and for a split second everything went black. He threw up again, though this time it felt like he was emptying the contents of his stomach rather than every _other_ internal organ.

Something hit his back with admirable strength – Zero, no doubt – and he heaved one last time before keeling forward and faceplanting into the table.

'. . . you're okay, you're okay, you'll be fine, goddamnit, you're okay . . .'

'Don't . . . you _dare_ ,' he choked, rather surprised his voice was willing to cooperate. Zero inhaled sharply with surprise and shifted him further down the table, moving him out of the pool of blood and vomit he was currently lying in. Headquarters swam into view around him as he shuffled awkwardly onto his side.

All was silent.

'You're fine,' Zero said again, though this time it seemed more like an order. Before, it had sounded as though she were reassuring herself, rather than him.

He coughed, wincing. His throat felt like it was made of sandpaper. Zero watched him apprehensively. There were dark shadows under her eyes, and her hair was in a messy, ruffled braid, as though she hadn't slept in days. Or, for that matter, left the room. Somehow that thought left a heavy, sick feeling in Vin's stomach.

He'd get to that later, though. For now, there was only really one thing on his mind.

'You _smoke?_ '

Zero's eyes widened in the way they only did whenever she was caught out by Macbeth (doing something wildly inappropriate, naturally). Then she grinned awkwardly. 'Did I say that? Well I lied.'

'You -' He cut off and coughed for a moment. 'You _so_ said that, you little shit.'

'Well it _worked_ , didn't it? It got your attention.' Despite the severity of the situation, Zero started to laugh, quite like she hadn't for a few weeks now. 'And why the fuck are you choosing to discuss this?'

'Because . . . I . . . _can.'_ And, though every part of his body hurt like an absolute bitch, the corners of his lips curled up in a grin. 'And, might I just -' Cough. '- take this moment to say . . . _fuck you_.'

The laughter died, though her smile never faded. She just brushed his hair away from his sweaty forehead, and after a moment's consideration, punched him lightly on the shoulder. 'Fuck you, too.'

Naturally, this was the moment Newton chose to burst into the room, throwing up the lid from the emergency passageway hidden in the trunk in the corner of the room, and tumbling out onto the floor, looking about wildly.

' _What do his vitals say?'_ he cried wildly, before realising that Vin was now sitting up, and remarkably, quite alive. 'Holy hell, you're still in one piece?'

'Thanks for believing in me,' Vin replied dryly, before launching into a violent coughing fit.

Newton made a small noise of distress and looked at Zero. 'So what happened?'

Vin saw her shrug before she moved out of his blurry field of vision, rummaging through the cupboard behind him. 'He just woke up and started hurling everywhere. I don't know what caused it.'

Vin exhaled heavily and leaned back down on the table, letting his fuzzy, aching head rest on his forearm. 'It's fucking wonderful,' he rasped, glaring at Newton when he approached, clearly with the intention to poke him and see what would happen.

'I don't get it,' Newton said, frowning at his computer monitor. 'An hour ago you were showing no signs of waking up whatsoever. The poison in your bloodstream still hadn't been neutralised – hell, I was still trying to figure out a remedy.'

'And there was no way it could have possibly neutralised itself?'

Newton paused, looking at Zero with an expression of slight horror on his face. 'What did you say?'

She moved back beside Vin, now with a fresh towel, and pulled him upright again, much to the indignation of his aching muscles, before wiping the filth off him without so much as flinching. 'Well, can some poisons do that?'

'No,' Newton replied dubiously. 'But now you've made me think, and I've already got some really bad ideas.'

'You're welcome,' she replied listlessly, swatting Vin across the head when he tried to pry her iron grip from his shoulder. She then made a point of roughly cleaning off his face like he was a toddler.

He scowled at her, only getting a smirk in return. 'Where's Trix?'

'She's coming,' Newton replied, opening a Google tab. 'Macbeth was holding her up though; she might be a while.'

 _That's convenient_ , Vin thought dully, coughing up a little more of the red, slimy gunge. Zero pulled an unimpressed face and handed him a water bottle, which he took gladly.

'Well tell her that I'm going to destroy that damned experiment, no matter what she says,' she told him, opening the desk draw and pulling out a few small detonators, before pocketing them. She put her headphones on. 'Keep watch for me.'

Vin made an indignant noise. Newton simply looked at her like she was insane. At this, she gave them both a forceful glare.

'Do you have any better ideas?' she snapped, folding her arms. 'Because if so, I'd damn well like to hear them!'

A beat of silence passed.

Then two.

Vin and Newton exchanged a dubious look – he honestly thought it wasn't a bad idea, but since Trixie was so vehemently against it, he had no clue what to think. He didn't know Newton's opinion on the subject.

At their silence, Zero raised her hands as if to say _I told you so_. Without a further word, she jumped up into the ventilation shaft with the grace of a cat and disappeared.

'Trixie's gonna kill us,' Newton said dumbly.

'No shit,' Vin rasped, before taking a swig of water and wincing as it stung his mutilated throat. He set the bottle down. 'But we've got to do what we can to help.'

* * *

' _You did WHAT?'_

Trixie was livid. More than livid, actually. The comforting weight of her insides disappeared so quickly that she almost saw stars as she processed this information, pressing a hand to her temple.

'Technically we did nothing,' Newton said hesitantly, keeping a safe distance.

' _You let her GO!_ '

'Hey, next time _you_ stand between Zero and something she wants,' Vin interjected hotly, folding his arms and trying valiantly to stay upright without passing out.

' _You_ can shut up. You've still got blood on your face,' she groused, before turning back to Newton. 'Did I _not_ explain to her why we're avoiding conflict? _Didn't I?_ '

'Well, I guess, but -'

' _SEE?_ And now she just _runs off for the hell of it!_ '

'Not for the _hell_ of it -'

'I _said_ shut up, Vin! And sit down; you're being silly.'

Vin scrunched his nose up in indignation, but sat back down as the blood steadily drained from his face. He made a noise of agonised relief, and reached up to pinch the bridge of his nose. Trixie sighed, closed her eyes, and counted to ten in an effort to calm down. She vaguely heard Newton muttering indignantly to himself, with a few _particularly_ scathing things to say about her current attitude. She supposed it was somewhat justified, and exhaled slowly.

'Okay,' she started, before opening her eyes again. 'I'm sorry for yelling at you. It's not your fault.'

Vin made a little noise that clearly meant _duh_ , and she shot him a pointed look, before turning back to Newton. 'Can you keep an eye on her? Just over the security system; I mean, hopefully we shouldn't have to intervene.'

He shrugged half-heartedly. 'Well, that's sort of what I thought. But if Macbeth's keeping a close eye on any movement we're making, she'd know we have some manpower on our side. There's a select number of kids she can narrow that down to, which means she would be expecting someone like Zero to come along and suss out the situation. You know what I mean?'

Trixie stifled the groan that threatened to escape, her mouth twisting in annoyance. 'Damn it,' she muttered. 'I _told_ her . . .'

'I know, Trix,' Newton said pointedly. 'But she . . . she's too stubborn to really listen to reason, you know?'

She scrubbed a hand over her face. 'Oy. Well . . . watch her, would you?'

* * *

From the outside, Trixie hardly seemed the sort of person who could be classified as a "problem child". Her grades were nearly flawless, she was well-mannered, and hardly stepped out of line (save for her involvement in INK). She possessed the air of a girl who was extraordinarily mature for her age, and knew she would study to become a lawyer if it weren't a job so _lacking_ in action. So why was she at Pinkerton?

The answer was simple: Her parents couldn't handle her.

Trixie had hated being carted around the country for concerts and meetings and record debuts – she hated it so much that she would act out in retaliation, desperately craving just a little bit of love and attention that they never had the time to give her. She was sick of having to leave the few friends she managed to make, and starting afresh at a brand-new school every two months. She was sick of being followed by the paparazzi when she just wanted to go to the shops to buy the simplest of things. She was sick of being lonely.

So, she responded in ways that would make most parents hit their head against the wall in frustration. She refused to eat for days at a time, deliberately threw embarrassing tantrums in public places, scared off _every_ _single_ babysitter her parents hired to look after her, and one time went so far as to bust the wheels of the tour bus with a kitchen knife.

To put it simply, she was a ratbag.

Her parents had tolerated it for a while, but in time, just as everyone eventually does, they cracked. They dumped her in the first convenient school that dealt with "children like her", and left.

Trixie had no idea if she loved or hated them for that. They had given her what she wanted – she had stability, a decent education, and three best friends she wouldn't abandon for the world. But on the other hand, they hadn't hesitated to leave her. She was more of a burden than anything else, and not ideal in the world of fame. Children were exhausting. Children got in the way. Children could very easily destroy the perfect image a celebrity had spent years building for themselves.

Children were unnecessary.

Trixie knew they hadn't really wanted her – she was an accident, she knew that much. But sometimes she wished she had someone other than Vin or Zero or Newton to go running to when she got a perfect report card; someone else to be proud of her and love her unconditionally.

It hurt, though she tried not to think of it. It was something she could function reasonably well without, so she had never let it stop her.

She still hadn't.

* * *

Sadie Macbeth was not an individual who would consider herself an alcoholic. However, when her precious fly experiment had gone up in literal flames only hours before, she felt she could allow herself this luxury.

She loathed bars, in every shape and form that they came, despite the fact that they provided the best Asti she could get her hands on this late at night. It was irrelevant.

This, she thought fuming, was the worst malfunction to-date. The fly was perfectly programmed to _incapacitate_ INK, not result in its own destruction! The purpose was simple: a remake of the Buzz-Buzz fly, it would inject the victim with a poison that corrodes flesh until it reaches the bloodstream, effectively rendering them unconscious for at least a few days, and weakening the body's resistance to outside interference. Effectively _all_ of INK's members ought to have been affected, giving her plenty of time to source out and dispatch the entire organisation. The plan had been flawless.

Until now.

One of those stinking brats had blown up the entire operation, leaving nothing but smoke, and some singed hair on Sadie's part. Somehow, they had _avoided_ the fly's bite and snuck around right under her nose, all while she had thought she was safe. But now she was no closer to uncovering their identities than she had been before, and all she had was the briefest glimpse of a silhouette to show for her efforts.

Yet again, she had been bested by _teenagers._

She swirled her drink bitterly, watching the young, female bartender as she flirted with a middle-aged man a few stools down. She couldn't _possibly_ have been more than eighteen, Sadie thought as she studied her scrutinisingly, yet she was working in a _bar_. The girl was standing rather close to him, with her caramel hair falling down her back in waves that must have been _tantalising_ for the old scumbag. She let out a little girlish ' _oh!'_ as she dropped her dishcloth on the ground just behind where he was standing, and leaned over to pick it up. This was clearly a practised move, as when the man's attention was shamelessly fixed on her behind, she carefully reached around and plucked his wallet from his back pocket. Hiding it in the cloth, she straightened up again, flashed him a sultry smile, and walked away.

Oh, she was _good_.

It wasn't a scene that particularly surprised Sadie, but there was something wrong about this whole situation. She frowned in thought as the girl came back to resume her position tending the bar, and pushed over her empty glass for a refill. She watched the girl's hands. There was a band of faint scarring around the fourth finger of her left hand, along with another faint mark that ran along the side of her right one. She barely looked at Sadie as she topped up the glass, almost as though she knew she was being assessed, and wanted to hide as much as possible.

Her eyes were far, _far_ too intelligent for her to ordinarily be stuck in this kind of job. And yet, she seemingly had no kind of qualification.

Highschool dropout, Sadie concluded. Though for what reasons, she wasn't sure. But, all the same, a plan began to weave itself in the depths of her mind.

* * *

'I have a proposition for you, my dear.'

Sadie had followed the girl as she walked out into the parking lot just after her shift ended, nose buried in her phone. She turned around, looking somewhat incredulous. She looked around in confusion.

'You talkin' to me, lady?'

'Yes. What's your name?'

Pause. 'Caitlin.'

'Lovely. Now your real name, please.'

The girl frowned, taking a step back. 'Excuse me?'

'Your real name, darling. Or your manager may somehow find out that you're not really twenty four, but only sixteen and ten months, and a high school dropout to boot. I have friends in high places.' The information wasn't particularly hard to find. With a mobile and decent internet connection, one could learn _anything_.

'You threatening me?'

'So it would seem.'

The girl glared, looking everywhere but at Sadie. Finally, she caved. 'Elizabeth. Elizabeth Hawking.'

'Thought so. Just wanted to be sure. Now, Elizabeth, as I said, I have a proposition for you. I believe you may quite like it.'

'Oh?'

'I work at a local boarding school – Pinkerton, you may have heard of it – and have a very close relationship with the principal. I'm sure, with a little manipulation of paperwork, you may be able to, as it were, legally finish your education. That means university, as I'm sure you know.'

Elizabeth's eyes narrowed, but her gaze was calculating. She was interested.

'Go on.'

'In return, all I ask is one small favour.'

* * *

 **17/7/17**


	4. The Calm Before the Storm

**_Title:_ Don't You Forget About Me**

 ** _Summary:_ ****As a whole, Pinkerton barely changed as its students grew older. Sadie Macbeth never abandoned her tyrannical ways, and the Invisible Network never found cause to disband. However, as Macbeth's plans for ultimate rule become increasingly more dangerous, it's only a matter of time before the consequences become deadly.**

 **Thus, the fog begins to settle.**

 **The past catches up with Vin, proving that one cannot hide from their problems forever. Soon he will have to face the music as a man, and not as the scared child he knows he is. Zero must become more invested in the future as a result of her own mistakes – the mistakes she continues to make, marring her life in the worst of ways, creating scars as deep as valleys. Trixie now struggles to keep the seams between the four of them from splitting apart, afraid to lose those she considers family to problems far greater than they can imagine.** **Newton only wants the best for those he loves, but sometimes opening those doorways means exposing oneself to the brutal reality of life. Life, which is meaningless without them.**

 **And so the final stretch begins. The clock is ticking, and it's only a matter of time before it's all over.**

 _ **Rating:**_ **T 13+, because Burt is a dickhead. Maybe 14+ for this one, I dunno.**

 _ **Chapter Summary:**_ **Here we introduce Miss Elizabeth. She's kinda important. Our valiant heroes discuss their thoughts on the matter, and Zero has some unfinished business to attend to.**

 _ **Chapter Word Count:**_ **2312**

* * *

 **Thank you for waiting, guys. I know it's been a while, and this chapter's fairly sub-par because I wrote most of it last night, but I got a surge of motivation to write stuff that happens _later_ , not what's going on with the plot now. Sorry. **

* * *

_**4 – The Calm Before the Storm**_

That Monday morning dawned clear and warm, and surprisingly devoid of the wrath of Sadie Macbeth.

'She seemed awfully happy when I saw her this morning,' Newton commented, fairly absorbed in dismantling and repairing the microphone in Trixie's pen. Trixie herself, who was resting her head atop her folded arms on the desktop, looked up at him with marginal annoyance.

'That doesn't really mean anything,' she said bluntly. 'She's had a day to recover.'

'Yeah, but she was prepared for endgame,' he replied. 'And if _that_ was her final card – which is _really_ unimpressive, if you ask me – then you'd think she would be a little upset that Zero blew it up.'

Trixie didn't reply. She just squeezed her eyes shut and sighed a little.

Newton felt a poke between his shoulder blades, and Vin leaned over from the other aisle. 'Speaking of which, have you seen Zero?'

Almost in answer to his question, the classroom door slid open and Zero walked in, hurriedly adjusting her bag on her shoulder. Her face relaxed in relief when she saw that Mr Soper hadn't arrived yet, and she slipped into her seat beside Vin without a word.

'Where have you been?' he asked curiously, head tilted.

'Ran out of mascara,' she said irritably, pulling her books out and dumping them on the bench. 'Sorry Trix, I stole yours again.'

'All good,' Trixie mumbled. She didn't lift her head.

Vin squinted at Zero critically. 'Why do you need makeup?' he asked generally. 'I mean, what's the point?

She looked at him in annoyance. 'Why's it your business?'

'Well -' He cut off and shrugged. 'I just don't understand it.'

'You don't _need_ to understand it.'

'Fine, fine. It's just – hey, what happened to you?'

Zero frowned at him. 'What?'

'You've just got a bruise -' He reached out and tentatively poked the corner of her jaw. Zero jerked violently in surprise and smacked his arm away, her face going red.

'Leave it.'

'But what -'

'Zero's got a hickey!' Newton crowed, his expression nothing short of absolute delight. He shot her a devilish grin. 'That's _brilliant!_ '

Vin looked at him confusedly. 'What's a - ?'

'It is _not_ ,' Zero snapped, socking Newton abruptly upside the head. 'I burnt myself with the straightening iron. Oh, _shut up!_ ' Both he and Vin were both laughing madly, only to be silenced, when she hit them both over the head with her textbook. Trixie wordlessly handed her a little plastic pot, which she accepted gratefully. She popped it open to reveal some sort of green substance, which she then started smearing liberally on the mark. Newton's heckling was cut short when it seemed to magically disappear, and he gaped at her.

'Where'd it go?' he asked stupidly.

She smirked, giving the pot back to Trixie.

' _That_ ,' she said, looking pointedly at Vin, 'is why girls wear makeup. To make assholes like you _shut up._ ' He too had been gawking at the witchcraft she had just performed, confusion written all over his face. At her words, he shook his head and looked at her incredulously.

The door opened again and Burt sauntered in, which was the key indicator that Mr Soper wasn't far off. Sure enough, less than a minute later he arrived, followed by a short girl with long, caramel hair pulled back into a ponytail.

'Good morning, everybody!' he said cheerily, setting his laptop down on the front desk. After he got a scattered, mumbling response of 'Morning, Mr Soper,' he continued. 'I'm delighted to announce that we have a new student with us today, which is brilliant, since we haven't seen a new face around here in years. Class, this is Elizabeth, who will be joining you for your last year of school.'

A number of heads perked up at this, looking at the girl with considerable interest. This wasn't surprising, seeing that she was, in fact, _very_ pretty. Already Burt and Hector were muttering together, probably betting on who could get her to sleep with them first.

Mr Soper told Elizabeth she could sit in the empty spot beside Newton, and began setting up for the lesson.

'Hi, I'm Newton,' he said as she dumped her books beside him, holding out a hand.

She shook it, still looking around the classroom with a slightly scrutinising gaze. 'Charmed,' she replied. 'Are all the classrooms like this? Loaded up with flora 'n' shit?'

Her heavy New York accent caught him off guard, and he blinked for a moment before replying. 'No, it's pretty normal, actually. Mr Soper just likes biology.'

'Huh,' she replied. She laced her fingers and rested her head on them, now looking around at the people. Newton was happy enough to leave her be, and opened his textbook.

Surprisingly enough, Elizabeth actually seemed fairly bright. She launched herself into the work with an odd level of enthusiasm, and was extremely absorbed in everything that Mr Soper had to say. In fact, it wasn't until half way through the lesson that she said anything at all.

'So,' she murmured, nudging Newton in the side, 'who's Beyoncé over there?'

'Hmm?' he replied, looking up. 'Oh, you mean Trixie?'

'I guess so. And the blond David Tennant?'

'That's Vin.'

'Huh.' She looked between the two of them for a moment, her expression unreadable. 'So are they dating?'

Newton nearly dropped his pen. ' _Vin?_ And _Trixie?_ ' He snorted. 'No way. They're more like brother and sister.'

She raised her eyebrows. ' _Wow._ They're too pretty-looking.'

'Well,' Newton shrugged, 'they've just never liked each other that way.'

'So they're single?'

'Yeah. But I'll warn you, Vin knows he's good-looking. If you tried to date him, you'd be dating his bedroom mirror as well.'

She snorted. ' _Right_.'

Newton hesitates before continuing. 'And besides, he's been in love with . . . some girl . . . since he was like, ten. There's really no point in trying.'

She looked at him curiously. 'Ooh, drama. I love me some drama.'

He pulled a face. 'No drama. If you want drama, go make friends with Vanessa.' He indicated to the other side of the room, where Van was twirling a pen between her fingers and chewing a piece of gum. 'Though . . . the low IQ doesn't make for much conversation.'

Elizabeth clapped a hand to her mouth, and Newton thought he'd offended her for a second, until he realised she was holding back laughter.

'Harsh,' she whispered, eyes shining.

He shrugged. 'But true.'

She watched him with her grey eyes for a long moment, and he felt the strangest desire to shrink under her gaze. Then she took a spare pen, and twirled her hair up into a bun with it to keep it out of the way. 'You,' she said as she worked, 'you seem like a good kid, Ginger. I'll keep that in mind.'

Newton didn't know what to say to that, but he was _pretty_ sure it was a compliment.

'Thanks, Shortie,' he replied, flipping a page in his textbook.

She grinned at him.

* * *

'I'm not sure about this,' Zero said as she hung upside down from her favoured bar in their usual spot on the grounds. 'Something about her seems weird.'

'I don't want to judge her just yet,' Trixie said absently, scrolling through her phone. 'It's only been a few hours. _You_ just don't like her because she was looking at Vin.'

Zero shot her a withering look. 'Like I'm _that_ shallow.'

'Uh huh. What do you think, Newton? You're the one who's actually _talked_ to her.'

Newton, who had just arrived, looked up from the book he brought with him. 'She seems cool. And she's pretty smart, so we had a bit to talk about.'

'And do you share Zero's sentiment, and agree that she's interested in Vin?'

Newton looked across the grounds, to where Vin was talking with Cathy outside Mr Soper's classroom. 'Well, if she is, I don't think he'd be too upset about it. I mean, she's probably as pretty as he is.'

Trixie gave an ungraceful snort, and pocketed her phone. 'Really? You think so?'

Zero merely quirked an eyebrow. 'He's a moron, Trix, not blind.'

'Oi!' Newton cried indignantly. 'I've seen more things than I'd _care_ to see –' He cut off with a yelp when Zero swung forward and caught him by the ear.

'You care to finish that sentence?' she asked quietly, her gaze flint. Trixie had the strangest feeling that this wasn't something she was supposed to be part of, and awkwardly pretended not to notice.

Some sort of unspoken agreement passed between the two of them, and Newton grinned awkwardly. At this, Zero let out a huff and released his ear, swinging back into place.

'Anyway, do you think Cathy the Vampire's staking her claim?' she asked, looking over at the classroom. 'Y'know, before things inevitably go south?'

'Probably. But what does it matter? He's most likely not going to do anything.'

'True.' Zero huffed. 'He _seriously_ needs to get a girlfriend.'

'I agree there.' Trixie smirked up at her. 'But you keep scaring them all off.'

She rolled her eyes. 'Yeah, alright. Whatever.' In one fluid movement, she swung backwards off the bar and flipped to the ground, dusting off her hands. 'I've gotta go. See you next class.'

* * *

From where she sat on the bench under the trees, looking out on the playground, Liz could conclude one thing: Macbeth was stupid as _hell_.

She had been on this mission for less than six hours, had _one_ grainy photo to use as reference, and she could already tell who two members of the Invisible Network of Kids were. And in like, six years, Sadie couldn't figure out even _one!_

The shitty picture wasn't stopping her, though. She knew Ginger was one almost as soon as she sat down. His lanky body shape and posture matched up pretty closely to one of the silhouettes, but she wasn't sure for certain until she looked further into it. Still, judging by his brains, it was a pretty good guess.

Second, the blonde. Not the dumb blonde, the other one – she just didn't know her by name yet. The one with the tiny skirt and ass-kicking boots. And, not to mention, a black leather jacket that had _clearly_ been picked up in a thrift store. That one. Liz wasn't quite sure _how_ she knew about that one; she could just tell. And she was hoping that her hunch was right, seeing that girl seemed like she would be the sort to be involved in some espionage group – you know, since she had that hardened, muscly vibe going on.

Liz was a little thrown off by her brash appearance, to be honest.

She didn't have a decent idea who the other two members were, but she had her suspicions. The kid with brown hair and glasses . . . what was his name – Hector – and that nerd girl Cathy both seemed plausible. She just had no backup evidence for them either.

She absently scratched the bridge of her nose. Oh well, she had plenty of time to figure it out. The whole school year, in fact. She could work her way through this investigation at a leisurely pace, talking to the right people and showing a bit of bare leg when she needed to, and this "Invisible Network" would become putty in her hands.

At least, that was what she hoped.

* * *

' _You_ ,' Zero said, 'need to quit it with the hickeys.'

Burt huffed a laugh and immediately began attacking that _exact_ spot on the corner of her jaw, and she made a noise of frustration.

'I mean it!' she said, smacking him on the shoulder. 'I almost got caught today.'

'Is _this_ what you wanted to talk about?' he asked, cocking his head with a bit of a wicked grin. 'Because Van _is_ waiting -'

'Yeah, yeah, but you've got to _mmph -_ ' She cut off with a surprised gasp as he went back to _exactly_ what he'd doing, one hand slipping up her shirt, tracing along her abs, and the other down the waistband of her skirt.

'What were you saying?' he asked innocently.

She blinked momentarily, having lost thread of her words, before slapping away the lower hand. ' _Cut it out._ '

'We've got time,' he said, moving his mouth down to her shoulder, pushing her shirt sleeve aside for better access.

'No, we don't,' she hissed. 'I've got to _go_ , and the _last_ thing I want is -'

'You _do_ want it, don't lie.'

' _No,_ ' she said, yanking his hand from where it had slipped up her bra. 'I do _not_. For fuck's sake, if you're this horny go find Van – I'm not in the mood and I've got to _go_.'

'Aw, quit being such a bitch.'

'I said _later_ , Burt.' She rubbed the mark on her jawbone irritably. 'Now I've got to go fix my makeup – _thanks_ for that. You know how many lies I've had to tell for you? I'm getting _really_ fucking good at making them up!'

He folded his arms and leered at her. 'What, are you on your period or something? You're being a tease, you know that?'

She glared stonily at him. 'Fuck you. And get the _hell_ out of my pants.' She smacked away his hand, which had once again magically appeared on her waistline.

'Stop denying me. It's not like anyone else will sleep with you.'

'I don't _care_ about that,' she hissed. 'And _I_ am _leaving_.'

She turned away and started walking around the side of the building where they had been standing.

'You'll be back, Sweetheart,' he called after her. 'You can't stay away.'

Zero ground her teeth, and tried to ignore the fact that she knew it was true.

* * *

 **14/9/17**


	5. Breaking Ties

**_Title:_ Don't You Forget About Me**

 ** _Summary:_ ****As a whole, Pinkerton barely changed as its students grew older. Sadie Macbeth never abandoned her tyrannical ways, and the Invisible Network never found cause to disband. However, as Macbeth's plans for ultimate rule become increasingly more dangerous, it's only a matter of time before the consequences become deadly.**

 **Thus, the fog begins to settle.**

 **The past catches up with Vin, proving that one cannot hide from their problems forever. Soon he will have to face the music as a man, and not as the scared child he knows he is. Zero must become more invested in the future as a result of her own mistakes – the mistakes she continues to make, marring her life in the worst of ways, creating scars as deep as valleys. Trixie now struggles to keep the seams between the four of them from splitting apart, afraid to lose those she considers family to problems far greater than they can imagine.** **Newton only wants the best for those he loves, but sometimes opening those doorways means exposing oneself to the brutal reality of life. Life, which is meaningless without them.**

 **And so the final stretch begins. The clock is ticking, and it's only a matter of time before it's all over.**

 _ **Rating:**_ **T 13+. There are a lot of implications in this chapter that may fly over your head if you're innocent. But then hey, it won't really affect you.**

 _ **Chapter Summary:**_ **Trixie and Liz meet, Newton is confused, Vin is in love, and Zero is angry. As usual.**

 _ **Chapter Word Count:**_ **2230**

* * *

 **Now the plot's starting to roll along. Those first few chapters were slugs, guys.**

* * *

 _ **5 – Breaking Ties**_

'Hey, Ginger!'

The name had become unnervingly familiar to Newton over a very short time, and he looked around reflexively upon hearing it. Trixie, who had been walking with him, furrowed her eyebrows in confusion before following in suit.

Elizabeth was sprinting toward them from across the courtyard, her long hair flying out behind her like a sail. Newton cocked his head and waited until she caught up, breathing heavily.

'Get this, dude,' she said, putting her hands behind her head and stretching out. 'Soper says there are like, six-week courses we can do here to learn units I might have missed at other schools. Like, certain science and history type things. How cool is that?'

'It's pretty neat, huh?' Newton agreed, feeling inclined to share in her enthusiasm. 'But I think it's broader than that. I'm pretty sure Bertha's been doing a few of those music theory ones.'

'Yeah, and – _hey_ Beyoncé, I don't think we've met in person yet.' Elizabeth suddenly seemed to realise that Trixie was there too, and turned her attention, sticking her hand out. 'I'm Liz.'

'Beyoncé?' Trixie questioned, shaking it. Neither of them let go.

'Ah, well -' Elizabeth shrugged offhandedly. 'You're pretty, you know? Like, crazy pretty.'

'Vin uses the term "exotic",' Newton put forward helpfully, slightly confused as to why their hands were still clasped – rather tightly, at that.

'An actual walking goddess,' she conceded, 'thus I dub you Beyoncé, as she too is a goddess.'

The corners of Trixie's lips were curled upward, and she looked over at Newton. 'Looks like you've found a real charmer.' Despite her attempt at nonchalance, her cheeks were pink.

Elizabeth _finally_ seemed to be affected by some sense of embarrassment. 'Ah, well . . .' She gently released Trixie's hand and absently scratched her ear, looking somewhere around Newton's feet. 'My Ma always said my mouth tends to run away with me.'

'It's fine,' Trixie said. She grinned slightly. 'It's nice to know someone thinks you're pretty. My name's Trixie, by the way.'

Elizabeth grinned back. 'Trixie. I – I think I like that better.'

When the moment lapsed into an awkward silence (in Newton's opinion, anyway), he chose that moment to step forward and take initiative. ' _Right_ , so Trix and I were just going to get our books, if you wanna tag along?'

Elizabeth shook her head. 'Nah, you go on. I'll see yous all later.'

Newton could barely wait until they had gotten inside to tap Trixie's ankle with his own foot, almost tripping her over. She let out an indignant squawk at this, and sent him a withering glare once she had steadied herself.

'What was _that_ for?'

'You were _blushing_ ,' he teased, giving her a wicked grin.

Her upper lip curled at this, and she sniffed in disdain. 'Was not.'

'Was too.'

'Well _you'd_ be flattered if someone compared you to Beyoncé, wouldn't you?'

'I guess, but admit it, you think she's cute.'

'I think she's _interesting_ ,' Trixie corrected, as they reached the library and collected their books from the table where they had last left them. 'There's a difference.'

'Why's she "interesting", then? Seems ordinary enough to me.'

'You'd agree she wears her heart on her sleeve, wouldn't you?' she posed, turning to him rather abruptly.

Caught off guard by the question, Newton faltered momentarily before answering. 'Uh, probably, yeah?'

'I don't think that's actually her.'

'You're pretty quick to make that decision.'

'It's a common defensive tactic, Newton. People with difficult histories often try to hide from them by adopting different behavioural mannerisms. You would think that being at _this_ sort of school would suggest a different attitude on her part?'

He paused, looking down at her thoughtfully. 'Okay, say you have a point. But isn't that _her_ business? It's not really our place to go nosing into other people's private lives.'

Trixie seemed to become fully aware of what she had been suggesting, and shook her head a little. 'You're right. I'm probably just imagining things.'

'Probably,' he agreed cheerfully, slapping her on the back. 'Now come on; we're gonna be late.'

* * *

'I could live like a hobbit,' Vin said, shoving a handful of chips in his mouth. 'Sit around, eat food all day, sleep – sounds like a good life.'

'Liar. You wouldn't cope with being that hairy.'

He punched Zero on the shoulder and handed her the bag of chips, readjusting his position on the bed. 'I'd get over it. I'd be too fat and happy to care.'

She hummed in agreement, and ate a chip.

The two of them were sprawled on Zero's bed, with her laptop sitting at the foot, which was playing _The Fellowship of the Ring_. They had piled a number of pillows at the head, and Vin was lounging with a hand behind his head. Zero was tucked up where the side of the bed met the wall, lying at an angle, with her legs thrown over his. It was some ridiculous hour of the morning, and they had just returned from a scouting mission, attempting to suss out what Macbeth might be planning next. They had come back with absolutely nothing – in fact, it seemed like she had no plan at all.

It was a little unnerving, really, but they were choosing to forget it in favour of watching movies.

'You know,' he said after a while, 'it kinda reminds me of us. INK, I mean.' At her questioning glance, he continued. 'Four little guys going on a quest to destroy ultimate evil – I know this one's fantasy and stuff, but some of the parallels are pretty cool when you think about it.'

'How profound of you,' she said dryly, 'but there's nine people in the Fellowship, dumbass. Learn to count.'

'Oi,' he replied indignantly, shooting her a look. 'I was talking about the hobbits.'

She remained straight-faced for a remarkably long time, but eventually cracked under his pointed stare and burst into laughter. 'I know,' she choked out, and dissolved into another fit of giggles.

'Then what are you laughing at?' Vin cried, unable to keep back his own grin. He elbowed her in the ribs. ' _Zero._ '

He always found it nearly impossible to focus on anything else when she laughed – mainly because he felt there was nothing else worth _noticing._ He knew it was stupid, but he was always . . . well, _mesmerised_ or something, by the way her whole face seemed to light up, eyes bright. She'd developed this habit too, over the last year or so, where she would unconsciously bring her hand up to cover her mouth.

It was . . . well, to put it simply, she had him wrapped around her finger. She could tell him to jump off a cliff, and hell, he'd do it. He knew he would.

The moment was interrupted when Zero's phone buzzed, almost startling the two of them off the bed. Zero fumbled for her phone and answered it, shooting Vin a look that clearly said _who the hell rings at this hour of the morning?_

'Hello?'

Vin leaned forward and paused the movie, before pulling out his own phone and scrolling through Facebook, pretending not to listen to her conversation.

'Yeah, that's me.'

There was a long pause, and Vin was getting very tempted to look up, but her next words made him pause.

' _Again?_ What the hell happened this time?'

Who was she talking to? He finally looked up, to see Zero . . . well, _furious._ Her eyes were wide and angry, and her whole body was tensed, as though she were ready to jump up and run. She didn't meet Vin's gaze, as though she were deliberately ignoring him.

'Yeah, I can come. What time?'

As she spoke, she reached out and closed the laptop, signalling to Vin that their movie session was clearly over.

'Yeah, I . . . alright – okay. Yeah, bye.' She hung up and dropped the phone on the bed. Everything was silent for a long moment, and Vin looked at her hesitantly.

'Everything alright?'

'It's fine,' she replied shortly. 'I should probably go to bed, though. I've got somewhere to be in the morning.'

'Okay,' Vin answered, and got up off the bed. 'Night.'

'Night.'

He got all the way to the doorway before he paused, turning back around.

'Zero?'

'Mmm?' She didn't look at him as she went about dusting chip crumbs off the bed, but he knew she was listening.

'You know if - if something's . . . wrong, you can talk to me, right? And Newton. And Trixie. You can trust us.'

There was a long pause, and Zero paused halfway through tying her hair back from her face. 'Yeah,' she replied after a moment. 'Yeah, I know.'

'And -'

'Good _night_ , Vin.'

* * *

'What the _fuck_ have you done now, jackass?'

The figure on the other side of the glass looked up at Zero's abrupt arrival, seeming almost surprised to see her. He picked up the phone receiver with a heavily tattooed hand and looked at her scrutinisingly.

'You actually came.' His tone was harsh; hostile.

'You're lucky I was the only one left they could call.'

'Don't _you_ go getting a smart mouth. You don't so much as call for a year, but the second I'm locked up you come visitin'. I know you don't learn _shit_ at that school, so what's your excuse.'

'This has perks,' she replied dryly. She reached up and rapped the glass with her knuckles. 'You can't hit me from over there.'

He threw out his arms exasperatedly. 'Oh, so _now_ you're gettin' picky.' His black hair, which was usually gelled back, hung limp in his face. 'I work my ass off for you, and I don't get so much as a "Thanks Pops, for givin' me a roof to sleep under". Nah, you just take off like it's nobody's business.'

Zero leaned in close to the glass, narrowing her eyes dangerously. 'If you think for _one_ _fucking minute_ that trafficking _drugs_ is "hard work", then I hope you never get out of this stinking place. What the hell did you think you'd get out of that anyway?'

'It was for you, kid,' he protested. He slapped a hand down on the table to express his point, and Zero flinched reflexively. 'What, you think getting' a future comes free these days? You can't earn shit workin' an honest job, you know that.'

'Yes you _can_ , but you're too much of a bastard to really understand that.'

He sneered. 'Face it. You're not gonna be anythin' more than some lousy skank. You're not cut out for the high life.' He gave her a leering smile, full of yellowing teeth. 'You'll wind up just like your ma. Makin' a whore outta herself at _every_ bar in the _state_.'

Zero made a valiant effort to keep her hands from trembling. Neither of them had spoken about Zero's mom since the day she had left, and now . . . and now . . .

'You knew all this time?' she asked icily. 'You knew all this time and you never _told me_.'

The leer stretched into a broad smirk. 'She was never good for much else.'

'Shut up,' she hissed. 'Shut _up_.' She stood up, clenching her fists. The receiver on her side of the glass clattered to the table.

Her whole life, her mother had been the light of her life. Even after she left, Zero still believed that one day she would come back, and take her far, _far_ away from Dad, where they could start a new life of their own. That hope had certainly faded over the years, as she matured and adopted a grimmer mindset, but Mum had been an untarnished aspect of her mind. Until now.

She was startled out of her silent, furious thoughts at Dad smacking his fist against the glass. Through the receiver, she heard the tinny growl of _'get back here, you little bitch_ ,' still audible even where she stood.

She drew in a deep breath, steadying her trembling. She then looked him in the eye, and picked up the receiver. 'This ends _now_ , you _sick_ fuck,' she told him in a low, venomous tone. 'I'm not coming back. Never. You think I'll become a hooker? Fine, maybe that will happen. But maybe I'll go out into the world and make something of myself. I don't know. But I _do_ know that I'm no longer part of this family. I want nothing to do with you, and if you _ever_ try to find me, I'm calling social services. I'm _done_ with your shit. _Never again_ will you have your way with me. _Never_.' She exhaled heavily. 'You've given me scars I'll never get rid of. But I can try my best _._ ' She slammed down the receiver, and as she walked out the door she ripped her visitor's label from her shirt. The words _Zero Toriello_ stared up at her, like a brand; some kind of scorching mark that told her who to be.

This was the first step in abandoning that, then.

She balled the label up and let it slip between her fingers, before leaving behind the part of her life that had tormented her for sixteen long, miserable years. And just like that, she walked away.

* * *

 **1/10/17**


	6. Unfortunate Situations

**_Title:_ Don't You Forget About Me**

 ** _Summary:_ ****As a whole, Pinkerton barely changed as its students grew older. Sadie Macbeth never abandoned her tyrannical ways, and the Invisible Network never found cause to disband. However, as Macbeth's plans for ultimate rule become increasingly more dangerous, it's only a matter of time before the consequences become deadly.**

 **Thus, the fog begins to settle.**

 **The past catches up with Vin, proving that one cannot hide from their problems forever. Soon he will have to face the music as a man, and not as the scared child he knows he is. Zero must become more invested in the future as a result of her own mistakes – the mistakes she continues to make, marring her life in the worst of ways, creating scars as deep as valleys. Trixie now struggles to keep the seams between the four of them from splitting apart, afraid to lose those she considers family to problems far greater than they can imagine.** **Newton only wants the best for those he loves, but sometimes opening those doorways means exposing oneself to the brutal reality of life. Life, which is meaningless without them.**

 **And so the final stretch begins. The clock is ticking, and it's only a matter of time before it's all over.**

 _ **Rating:**_ **T 13+. Same goes for every other chapter.**

 _ **Chapter Summary:**_ **Zero finally returns - in the middle of the night, no less. Meanwhile, Liz and Newton gossip like the old ladies they are.**

 _ **Chapter Word Count:**_ **2869**

* * *

 ***grins***

 **I have nothing to say. Except for the fact that I have _Rasputin_ stuck in my head and really wanna do the Hustle. **

* * *

_**6 – Unfortunate Situations**_

When the taxi let her out at Pinkerton's gates late that night, Zero did not return inside. Instead, she shoved her hands in her pockets and strode off into the trees, needing a little longer with her thoughts before she did so.  
 _Screw him and his bullshit_.

Her facial muscles twitched with a snarl. This was exactly why she had left – to get away from her father's awful, disease-ridden ideas. His self-centred mindset. His shitty excuse for being a parent. He wasn't _family_.

That, she supposed, was why Mom had left too.

Zero exhaled shakily, leaning against the coarse bark of one of the tall pines. Well, at least it was all over now. He was the exact opposite of anything she intended to be. He was part of the reason she joined I.N.K, to be honest. Fighting against a tyrannical teacher gave her a strange sense of positivity inside, like maybe – just _maybe_ – she could be a good person.

Maybe her life didn't have to be dictated by a screwed-up childhood.

She snorted at the thought, pushing back off the trunk and walking again, this time in the general direction of the school. Her path had already taken its place. There was nothing she could do about who she was _now_. People don't change.

 _And speaking of people . . ._

She saw a large, bulky silhouette of a man nearby, illuminated ever so slightly by the light coming from the buildings. He raised his hand to his mouth and took a long drag of a cigarette, before exhaling in a thin trail of smoke that faded into the night. Her voice was quiet when she spoke.

'Better not stay out here too long. Van'll be looking for you.'

Burt snorted, turning his head ever so slightly to regard Zero. 'Could say the same about you, Blondie. Where's your pretty boy?'

She carefully arched an eyebrow, forcing her expression to remain impassive, though the thought of Vin was trying its best to nudge its way into her mind. 'I don't have one.'

He huffed a quiet laugh, before taking another drag. 'Alright, then. I won't ask if you don't tell. I don't reckon Van will care too much 'bout where I am.' He dropped the cigarette on the ground and snuffed it out with his foot.

Zero watched the toe of his boot grind it into the dirt and stuffed her hands back in her pockets. The story of their latest break-up was not unknown to most of the student body. 'So I've heard.'

'Mmh.' He turned towards Pinkerton, and waited for her to walk up to meet him, before he too began pacing with long, leisurely strides.

They walked in near silence until they reached the tree which led up to the open window. She climbed through, followed by Burt, and so began the arduous task of trying to navigate the dormitory halls in the dark. His presence was solid beside her, and all she could smell was his smoke. It kept her brain preoccupied, and she felt . . . blissfully numb. Serene, even.

She looked up to see that he had been watching her out of the corner of his eye, his expression something she couldn't quite read. Though, it registered properly when his gaze travelled from her eyes, down her exposed neck, and slightly lower. He reached out with a hand and smoothed back her hair so it fell behind her shoulders like it should have been, and she couldn't even be bothered to smack him upside the head for touching her. It didn't seem to matter.

'You knew I'd be back,' she finally found herself saying in a low voice.

Burt didn't reply, but instead raised self-satisfied eyebrow as he continued to walk.

'I don't know what makes you so certain about yourself, but you never seem to be wrong. I find it very hard to understand that.'

They turned into the boys' hallway and paused just outside Burt's door. He leaned against the frame and folded his arms, which made his muscles stand out against his sport jacket. 'Why don't you come in, then. I can be a bit more . . . _forgiving_ than you.'

He pushed open the door and gestured with his hand. Zero simply looked at him for a long moment, before stepping inside.

'At least you don't care about this either,' she said quietly, as Burt closed the door behind them. 'It makes it easier to . . . forget things.' She leaned against the wall as Burt shed his jacket, letting it fall to the ground. He caught her gaze, before walking over to stand before her, placing his hands on the wall either side of her head.

'Well then maybe I can help with that,' he whispered. His eyes were piercing, and he lowered his head so their noses were brushing. Something stirred in her gut, followed by a string snapping.

Zero thought she ought to respond – verbally, at least - but her shirt was already on the floor. His quickly followed.

* * *

'I should'a just woken someone up and asked,' Liz muttered to herself as she looked confusedly around Pinkerton's hallways, trying to discern which direction the laundry would be. She balled her bloodied sheets tighter to her chest and peered around the next corner, feeling particularly paranoid about being caught in this state of vulnerability. She looked like an absolute mess right now, wearing an oversized Guns 'N' Roses t-shirt as a nightdress, her hair was ratty, her eyes were smeared with mascara, and, _oh yeah_ , she was spectacularly bloated, and bleeding in a place she'd rather not be.

Not the best position to be caught in at midnight, when you were in a boarding school that was still pretty foreign to you.

Who would she have asked, though? It wasn't like she'd _really_ made a friend yet – at least, not one she could complain to about the dramas of womanhood.

With a sigh, she slumped against the nearest wall, drawing her knees up to her chest. Maybe she could ask the girl in the room next to her – Bertha. She seemed friendly enough the few times Liz had spoken to her, and she – oh, wait, she goes home to her family on weekends, doesn't she?

Liz sighed. She could just wander the halls aimlessly, but there was a good chance at least one of the teachers were on patrol, or the security system would notice, at least.

Then it struck her. The boys' bedrooms were the next hall over, weren't they? She could bug Ginger to at least give her directions – it was highly unlikely he would actually figure out what was going on, anyway – and maybe lend her some detergent. That was the funny thing about small boarding schools: you had to bring your own detergent, and wash your own clothes. Liz just hadn't gotten around to sorting that out, yet. Or perhaps –

Her train of thought was interrupted as she heard low voices moving down the hall to where she sat, and with a surge of panic, Liz scrambled to her feet and hid around the corner, heart hammering.

'. . . makes you so certain about yourself, but you never seem to be wrong. I find it very hard to understand that.'

She drew in a breath and flattened herself against the wall as two figures entered the hallway from where she'd been sitting not a moment ago. Thankfully, they turned towards the boys' rooms and started in that direction. Liz had, thankfully, gone unnoticed.

It was a female who had spoken, and she realised after a moment that she recognised the voice – that macho chick, the blonde who wasn't Van.

She squinted at their silhouettes in concentration, wishing she weren't so damn awful with names, when the other, much larger figure leaned against one of the doorframes.

'Why don't you come in, then?'

And then, Liz realised there was something _very_ wrong with this scene.

 _Burt?_

She looked at the two of them in horror, all the while trying to remember that name, and Burt continued.

'I can be a bit more . . . _forgiving_ than you.'

Liz had no idea what he meant by that, and the girl responded with a look that was stony in the moonlight. But, when he pushed the door open and extended an offering hand, she walked inside. He followed, closing the door with a _snap_.

 _He's cheating_ , Liz thought numbly. _Or, well maybe not cheating, but he's obviously done it before._ She thought of Vanessa – stupid, clueless Vanessa – and sighed. It was so ironic.

She only wasted a short moment on this however, as she had more pressing matters at hand. Such as finding the laundry.

Refusing to part from her rather intimate relationship with the wall, she edged her way into the corridor and peered around anxiously, trying to figure out which was Newton's room. Soon she found herself standing at one of the far doors, deliberating on whether or not she should knock. In the end however, she didn't really need to make that decision.

She had been standing there for a few solid minutes, weighing her options at a rather slow pace, when the door opened a crack and Newton's head appeared. He rubbed his sleep-worn eyes and yawned.

'What are you _doing_ here?

'Ginger!' Liz breathed, unable to keep the relief out of her voice. 'I – you're the only person I could think to come to – we're friends, right? – um, could you point me to the laundry?'

'The _laundry?'_ he mumbled confusedly. 'What, you piss yourself or something?'

' _No_. It's – I . . . well . . . How'd you know I was here, anyway?'

He snorted. 'What, you'd think I wouldn't have a security system set up around _my own room?_ '

'. . . No?'

He shook his head disbelievingly, opening the door a little wider. 'Anyway, why do you – oh.' His eyes settled on the bloodied sheet ball bundled under Liz's arm, narrowed for a moment as he thought about it, and then widened in realisation. ' _Oh._ '

'Yeah,' she mumbled, unable to keep her cheeks from burning. Normally this didn't bother her, but being caught out in a place she wasn't comfortable with really didn't help.

He hesitated awkwardly. 'Uh, do you . . . need any, uh . . . any _stuff?_ I keep some in a drawer for if Trix or Zero get caught out . . .' He trailed off, face going red.

She shook her head, saving him from going on and causing further embarrassment. 'I'm fine – I just need directions. And detergent, if you've got any.'

He straightened up. 'Oh, yeah. Sure.' He disappeared back in his room, reappearing a moment later with a cardboard box. 'Here you go.'

'Thanks.' She took it, and hesitated for a moment. 'You're a good kid, Ginge. I mean -' She gestured vaguely. '- keeping . . . _stuff_ . . . for your girlfriends, just in case – not many guys have the balls to do that. It's nice.'

'Ah, well . . .' He scratched the back of his head awkwardly. 'Yeah, I guess. Anyway, I can take you to the laundry if you'd like.'

'Thanks,' she said gratefully. She waited for him to pull on a dressing gown, before asking, 'Uh, Zero? Which one is she?'

He blinked for a moment, processing her question (he was clearly still half-asleep), before mumbling, 'The one with a mean right hook.'

'A visual description would be more helpful.'

'Oh, yeah. The albino chick.'

Liz froze as realisation struck her, before carefully saying, 'The blonde?'

He gave her a look that said _well duh_. 'Would that imply otherwise?'

She shook her head rather aggressively, still reeling. 'Uh, no, I just . . .' She floundered momentarily, attempting to find words that wouldn't give away what she had seen minutes before. 'I, uh, she looks like she'd knock my head off my shoulders without a second thought.'

'She probably would,' he agreed cheerfully. The look in his eyes however, dared her to say something derogatory. 'Problem?'

Liz absently tugged on a ratty strand of hair as she thought about it, suddenly able to string her thoughts together. Thoughts that were conveniently _very_ useful.

'Only if she punches first,' she replied simply. She returned the double-meaning grin. 'Then we might.'

He snorted, stuffing his hands in his pockets. 'Great. Now I've got two friends who'd beat me up.'

'Seems like it,' she agreed, stepping aside so he could lead her down the hall.

'You seem tense,' he noticed.

She hesitated, wondering if this was something she ought to divulge. 'Do you know where she is tonight?'

He scratched the back of his head. 'She, uh, Vin said she went out. Dunno where.'

Liz hesitated, before deciding to screw it and just launch into the topic.

'Well she's obviously back now, because I saw her with Burt.'

The reaction she got was exactly what she expected. He stumbled, eyes going wide with alarm. 'What did you see?' he asked quickly, surveying her face as though it would give away the answer.

She put her spare hand on her hip and turned to him with a deadpan look. 'Well, call me crazy for being so bold, but I _think_ they're fucking,' she replied dryly.

He pinched the bridge of his nose and exhaled slowly. ' _Again?_ '

'What do you mean, _again?_ '

He turned to her and pointed a finger. 'Not a word to _anyone_ , got it?' When she nodded, he continued. 'I walked in on them once. You know, empty hallway and all. Scarred me for life. Zero's threatened to kill me if I tell anyone.'

She frowned at him, lips pursed. 'You know this means he's cheating on Vanessa.'

He shrugged. 'Half the time it's technically not cheating, when they're broken up.'

'But still, that makes him a scumbag. Why does she want to be with someone like that?'

'I don't exactly think it's a _loving and caring_ arrangement, Elizabeth.'

She snorted obnoxiously as they came to a stop outside a door. Newton pushed it open, before gesturing inside with a grand sweep of his hand. 'The laundry, madam,' he told her with an affected air of seriousness. She snorted again, but went inside.

Newton was nice enough to help her work the washing machine, and the two of them sat on the bench while they waited for one of the clean sheets to come out of the dryer. Liz scratched her nose absently, wracking her brain for a topic of conversation, since gossiping about Zero had died off pretty quickly (Liz was now fairly certain that she _couldn't_ be a part of I.N.K. She seemed far too moronic to be involved in something so . . . _intelligent._ ) While she was here, she figured she could poke and prod Newton to see if he knew anything of use.

'So,' she said carefully, 'that Macbeth's a nightmare, isn't she?'

He huffed a laugh. 'Try living with her for six years.'

She winced sympathetically. 'Eesh.' She had to play her cards right if this was going to work. Somehow, she thought Newton wouldn't be swayed if she attempted to seduce him, especially when she looked this much of a mess. Besides, he'd just helped clean up her _period blood_. It seemed just a little cruel to take advantage of the poor guy like that. So, she was going to take the more low-key route. 'This probably sounds stupid, but she seems like the sort of evil teacher you see in kids' cartoons, y'know? The sort that makes crazy inventions and tries to enslave the populace.'

If her words had any impact on him, his face didn't show it. 'Well, she _did_ pay a paedophilic thief to stir up trouble and ransack the place, if that counts.'

 _That_ was a curveball she had _not_ been expecting. ' _What?_ '

He shrugged offhandedly. 'Long story.'

She stared at him incredulously for a moment, before awkwardly deciding to continue with her spiel. 'Anyway, it kinda makes me wanna fight back – all secret-agent like, you get me? With gadgets and traps . . .' She trailed off, deliberately turning away from him in her acting. 'I dunno where I get these ideas, honestly. It's fun to imagine, though.'

'I'll bet,' Newton said, and she heard a thump as he slid off the bench onto the floor. 'Anyway, I should probably get back to my room – you can find your way, can't you?' When she nodded, he grinned and nearly _ran_ to the door, pulling it back open. 'Alright, see you, Elizabeth.' She barely had time to reply before the door closed again, and he was gone.

He couldn't have been _more freaking obvious._

With a self-satisfied grin, Elizabeth turned back to the dryer and pulled out a fresh sheet, inspecting it. 'Well,' she said to herself, 'one member down, three to go.'

* * *

'You're _late_.'

'You want a report, you got a report. But I work on my own schedule, _Sadie_.'

'Well, then? What do you have for me?'

'You'll learn in time.'

* * *

 **7/10/17**


	7. Interlude: Fear

**_Interlude_**

Vin is afraid of abandonment. That one day he will finally find his family, and they will not want him. That he will still be alone, despite fighting to be otherwise. It's what his nightmares are made of.

* * *

Zero is afraid of fear. That one day, she will succumb to cowardice, and that it will be her ultimate undoing. That her weaknesses will cost her those that she loves. Fear has controlled her before.

* * *

Trixie is afraid of sexual assault. To this day, she cannot bear to be outside after dark, and she is terrified – so, _so_ terrified – that she will not be able to live with herself if something happens. This fear is not unjustified.

* * *

Newton is afraid of failure. His mistakes have cost them all dearly in the past, and each one he _knows_ he could have avoided simply makes it worse. He is smart enough to know better, yet things still go wrong, and it is always his fault. He knows it will cost him.

* * *

They all live in fear, in a world far too big for them. They deserve better than what they have gotten, but unfortunately, Fate is not that kind. The worst is yet to come.

* * *

 **7/10/17**


	8. Doubt Creeps About

**_Title:_ Don't You Forget About Me**

 ** _Summary:_ ****As a whole, Pinkerton barely changed as its students grew older. Sadie Macbeth never abandoned her tyrannical ways, and the Invisible Network never found cause to disband. However, as Macbeth's plans for ultimate rule become increasingly more dangerous, it's only a matter of time before the consequences become deadly.**

 **Thus, the fog begins to settle.**

 **The past catches up with Vin, proving that one cannot hide from their problems forever. Soon he will have to face the music as a man, and not as the scared child he knows he is. Zero must become more invested in the future as a result of her own mistakes – the mistakes she continues to make, marring her life in the worst of ways, creating scars as deep as valleys. Trixie now struggles to keep the seams between the four of them from splitting apart, afraid to lose those she considers family to problems far greater than they can imagine.** **Newton only wants the best for those he loves, but sometimes opening those doorways means exposing oneself to the brutal reality of life. Life, which is meaningless without them.**

 **And so the final stretch begins. The clock is ticking, and it's only a matter of time before it's all over.**

 _ **Rating:**_ **T 13+. You know the drill.**

 _ **Chapter Summary:**_ **Trixie thinks too much. Zero, meanwhile, is bottling up a lot of feelings. Shit hits the fan.**

 _ **Chapter Word Count:**_ **2744**

* * *

 **Thank you all so much for reviewing and following this story. I thought I would have to wait at least a year before someone even _read_ it, to be honest. You guys are great.**

* * *

 **Title comes from Matt Cameron's " _Ruby Moon"_. **

* * *

_**7 – Doubt Creeps About Like a Pantomime Thief**_

A lot of things go on in Trixie's mind. More things than she would rather, to be perfectly honest.

Take, for example, the concept of a handshake. It's nothing more, nothing less, where both the participants look each other in the eye with a level of openness that is rather unusual for the both of them. Then, neither of them lets go.

What does that mean? Trixie has generally been quite satisfied with her level of social intelligence, and has been able to analyse many situations with relative ease. This single handshake however, has made her pause. How can one girl throw off _years_ of practised routine with a mere smile?

She's refused to consider the idea of romantic interest. She wasn't asexual like Newton, and she has gone to some lengths in the past to prove that to nonbelieving onlookers. Like what happened about a year ago, when Hector had been harassing her, asking why "the hottest girl in the grade didn't wanna get laid", Trixie had grabbed him roughly by the scruff of his collar, and pulled him down for a rather aggressive kiss. Then, when she released him, she looked him coolly in the eye and responded with 'Was that enjoyable for _you?_ Because it certainly wasn't for me, and I'm sure you can draw your own conclusions on how I feel about anything _more_ than that.' Needless to say, he'd well enough left her alone after that – he might be a dickhead, but he could be surprisingly profound when it came to respecting personal space.

However, though it may appear otherwise, Trixie _had_ experienced sexual attraction before, (not that she would be willing to admit that), and enough so that she could conclude she only liked girls. This had taken some time to work out, and many hours had been spent with Newton, venting her confusions in an attempt to analyse them. She had also, in a manner quite unlike her, taken to discrete rule-breaking to distract herself from it. This inevitably led to her and Zero sneaking a bottle of vodka into the girls' dormitory when they were fourteen, and downing the whole thing between them rather quickly. Then, while _stupidly_ drunk, and for reasons unbeknownst to either of them, they had wound up making out for a solid fifteen minutes (probably longer; her memory was pretty hazy on this) before passing out cold. That hangover hadn't been pretty, and with the two of them being stubborn as oxen, the incident hadn't been mentioned since. It had all been a bit moot point, really.

And now there's Elizabeth.

This hasn't been like every other time. It's nothing like where she follows her parents on tour during the holidays, meets beautiful women, and can simply think "Oh, she's cute", and that is all. Something stirred in her gut when she looked Elizabeth in the eye, and she didn't like it one bit.

She _knew_ attraction. She knew what she liked, and what she didn't like, and the types of women who drew her eye. Take, for example, Vanessa. While, yes, she was obviously a very attractive girl, she wasn't Trixie's type. She was far too vapid, lacked any personality whatsoever, and the fact that her breasts miraculously changed from a B cup to an F cup over one weekend was a bit of a turn-off. Not to mention that she looked a bit . . . _overbalanced_. Now, for a rather dramatic contrast, look at Zero. Until about two years ago, it was easy enough to conclude that these two were polar-opposite just by looking at them. Zero hid herself in oversized jackets and hoodies, kept her hair choppy and uneven, and wore so much eyeliner that 2007 would call and demand its style back. And, not to mention, it was generally _Trixie's_ eyeliner that she stole to achieve that look in the first place. Over the years, however, Zero's intensive exercise regime combined with a few blessings from Mother Nature resulted in a _very_ attractive figure. And this wasn't even bias on Trixie's part – Zero had been subjected to many crude comments and wolf-whistling over the last few years, and blatant staring. Not to mention, she had the face most girls tried to achieve with plastic surgery and intense makeup; cheekbones, soft lips, arching eyebrows (however pale); she was _very_ attractive. Trixie herself had been stuck nursing a rather bitter crush the whole time they were fifteen, though that wasn't exactly a fact she wanted to broadcast.

But that wasn't relevant right now. What _was_ relevant, was that Trixie was lying awake in the middle of the night, over-analysing a single interaction with a girl she barely knew, not to mention that particular action had happened –

Trixie checked the time on her phone. _12.36 AM._

Two days ago. That interaction had now officially happened _two days ago_ , and she was still thinking about it.

She buried her face into her pillow, and let out the biggest, most long-suffering sigh she could muster.

 _Damn it._

* * *

'Wake up.'

Trixie strode into Zero's room, heading straight toward the curtains and throwing them wide open. To be fair, she _had_ knocked (she wasn't _completely_ uncivilised), but the lack of response had prompted her to barge in and make sure no one was dead. At the sudden influx of bright light, the mound of blankets that was _presumably_ Zero let out a long-suffering groan, before her head appeared at one end.

'What do you _want?_ '

'Good morning to you, too,' Trixie replied primly, heading to the wardrobe and pulling out a leather jacket, singlet top, and a skirt. 'You're really late, you know.' She laid the clothes out on Zero's desk chair.

' _Nnnghhhhhh . . ._ '

'I won't ask where you went yesterday, since it's your business, but you're _not_ oversleeping class.' She pulled open the top desk drawer and grabbed a little foil sheet of asprin, checking the dates written on the back. 'You should probably take one of these.' She popped one and brought over a glass of water, before rousing Zero once more. 'Come on, you can't miss this.'

Zero finally sat up and rubbed her eyes. She was still wearing yesterday's makeup, and her hair was absolutely _atrocious_ , sticking up in all directions. She squinted at the pill Trixie offered, before her eyebrows narrowed in suspicion. 'How did you know I'd need it?'

Trixie merely sighed, her face softening. 'I might not know everything going on in your life, but I'm not stupid.' She paused, before adding, 'That's _Vin's_ job.'

Zero snorted, but didn't reject the pill, which only confirmed Trixie's suspicions.

She turned away and began absently cleaning up the _horrendous_ mess that was strewn around, before adding, 'And you'll need to cover up those hickeys. Better not broadcast to _everyone_ that you've been shagged.'

She got exactly the response she expected. She heard a cough, a splutter, and then an indignant cry of: ' _WHAT?_ '

'I did say I'm not stupid, Zero.' She picked up a discarded t-shirt and began folding it, before looking over her shoulder at the other girl. 'I'm not going to ask who with, just . . . be careful, alright?'

If it were possible, Zero seemed even paler before. She had that stunned, wide-eyed look that she only got when she was well and truly caught off guard, and sat up abruptly in bed, seeming to forget that she only ever slept in her underwear. The sheets fell around her waist, leaving her pale torso completely exposed.

'How do you know?' she whispered hoarsely, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. 'How do you _know?_ '

Trixie set the shirt down and turned to her, folding her arms. 'Well,' she started, determined not to stare at _those glorious abs, sweet Jesus,_ 'To start with, you've been sneaking around one hell of a lot lately. You've also had a stupid number of hickeys – you _really_ need to get a better concealer; I'll take you shopping soon – and you've been inclined to bite Vin's head off more than usual. I've drawn my own conclusions from that.'

Zero absently reached up to touch one of the aforementioned red marks on her collarbone, flushing violently. She then exhaled heavily, looking up at Trixie with something akin to worry in her eyes. 'Is it _that_ obvious?'

'To the common eye, no. I, however, am a genius.' She grinned jokingly, before adding, 'And you've got _really_ bad sex hair.'

If possible, Zero flushed a darker shade of red. 'I . . . can you -?'

'Help?' Trixie suggested. 'Well, I'd be an ass if I didn't – class is in ten minutes. Alright, come on, up you get . . .'

She helped Zero to her feet and indicated to the clothes she'd laid out (though she would be lying if she said she wasn't disappointed when Zero _actually_ put them on, instead of standing around half-naked for a few minutes choosing something else), and brushed her hair into a Dutch braid while Zero hastily applied concealer to the red marks all up her neck. Trixie did her best to refrain from scolding; she could do that when they _weren't_ running late. Then they were out the door, and in front of Mr Soper's classroom with a few minutes to spare.

'Where have _you_ been?' Vin asked when they arrived. He and Newton had been leaning against the wall, engrossed in conversation. 'I was just about to call.'

' _Someone_ wouldn't get out of bed,' Trixie replied, shooting Zero a look. Zero herself simply hunched into her jacket, stuffing her hands in the pockets and looking surly.

Vin watched her with an unreadable expression for a long moment. 'Are . . . are you okay?'

'I'm fine,' came the blunt reply.

He tilted his head a little, tentatively stepping forward. 'Zero?'

'Vin, just shut up. Please.'

Trixie exhaled slowly, pinching the bridge of her nose. 'We should probably talk,' she conceded, shooting Zero a furtive look.

'Don't bother. I'm not in the mood.'

She bristled. 'I don't _care_ if you're not in the mood; _we need to talk_.'

' _Ugh_.' Zero shot her a withering look. 'And _why_ , pray tell, is that the case?'

'Just quit being an asshole and come with me.'

'You are so _fucking_ charming, Trixie. Goddamn _debonair_.'

'That's an awfully big word,' she replied icily, trying to hide the damage that comment dealt. 'Been reading a dictionary, have you?'

' _Girls_ ,' Vin cut in, reaching out to grab Trixie by the wrist, and Zero by the scruff of the collar. 'It's too early for this.

'Shut _up_ , Vin,' they shot back in unison, sporting equally deadly glares.

'Don't tell _me_ to shut up,' he replied indignantly. 'I swear, if you start -'

'We wouldn't have this problem if Zero would just tell us _what's going on -_ '

'Well, it _is_ her business -' Newton added.

'And I'm sick of cleaning up messes I know _nothing about!_ '

'I never fucking _made_ you help!' Zero growled. 'If you just _minded your own business -_ '

'If _you_ stopped disappearing without a _decent explanation_ -'

'I _told_ you, I had to go -' She reached up and tried to pry Vin's grip away, but he wouldn't budge.

'You could have told _me_ , instead of leaving a half-assed message with Vin -'

'Don't drag me into this,' Vin objected.

'Why are you chewing me out _now?_ Why not back in my bedroom?'

'The situation was different, then, and I didn't have _time_ to get mad at you. Besides, you were vulnerable.'

' _You little shit_ ,' Zero hissed. She started forward; whether to swing a punch or grab her, Trixie wouldn't know. Vin, sensing obvious danger, caught her in a tight embrace from behind, his grip locking her arms at her sides. She growled and tried to shake him off, but Vin, having years of practise in this, and being considerably bigger than her, stood his ground. Newton, perhaps as a precautionary movement, grabbed Trixie's hand tightly and moved her to his side, even though she had no intention to fight.

Vin moved his face beside Zero's, tightening his grip on her as she struggled. 'Stop,' he murmured. 'Come on, stop, don't fight it, _breathe_ , stop, stop, come on, breathe . . .'

Miraculously, it worked. Breathing heavily, Zero shot Trixie one final withering look, before her face slackened, a crease appearing between her eyebrows. She went limp in Vin's arms, letting out a shuddering exhale. It was then Trixie realised that her eyes were glossy, as though tears were threatening to spill over.

Realisation hit her like a punch in the gut. Zero _never_ cried. _Ever_. Something was _really_ wrong.

Though Trixie wasn't exactly guilty (Zero had been outright lying to them about a large number of things for a good year, now), she recognised the situation had to be dealt with. She wasn't _completely_ insensitive.

'Vin,' she said quietly. He met her gaze carefully, and nodded in understanding when Trixie discretely nudged her head toward Zero. 'You know what to do.'

He loosened his grip on Zero, moving his hand so that it rested gently on her waist, and with whispered encouragement, coaxed her into moving. He looked back at Trixie and Newton.

'Go,' Newton said. 'We'll deal with Soper.'

Vin looked back at Zero briefly, who was staring into empty space, face gaunt and exhausted, before nodding again and finally leading her away, back to the main building.

The commotion hadn't gone unnoticed by the other students, however they regarded it with a fair nonchalance – Zero got into fights (both verbal and physical) far too often for it to be particularly gossip-worthy.

Trixie had a vague notion of being watched – she looked over to find herself meeting Burt's gaze. His expression was fairly neutral, but Trixie thought she could detect a slight sense of satisfaction. She wasn't quite sure _why_.

'I screwed up, Newton,' she murmured quietly.

' _You don't say_ ,' he replied shortly, releasing her hand. 'What was _that_ about?'

'Something's going on with her. Something bad, and she won't tell me.'

He folded his arms. 'Well, she doesn't _have_ to, you know.'

'No, you don't get it. I think it's a lot bigger than it seems. A _lot_.'

He didn't have a response to that.

* * *

They made it back to Vin's room before everything fell apart. Zero sat down on his bed, drew her knees up to her chest, and . . . was silent. Too silent.

And it was so much worse than if she had been screaming.

Vin left the lights off and drew the curtains, leaving the room cool and dark. Then he sat down beside her and kicked his shoes off, unsure whether he had permission to touch her or not. To be honest, he wasn't sure if he wanted to _ask_ in the first place. But then she looked at him, and she was so, _so_ miserable, that he caved in and took her hand, despite the fact that she would normally attempt to castrate him for it.

Surprisingly enough, she didn't hit him. Or kick him. Or brutally maim in any other way. Instead, she just sighed.

'Zero?' he began tentatively, even though he had no idea what he actually intended to say. She met his gaze and tightened her grip on his hand, as though she were afraid he'd let go.

 _As if._

And then he understood; he understood exactly what she was too afraid to ask – what she ordinarily _refused_ to ask.

She just _really_ needed a hug.

Vin wasn't one to refuse that. With a small, sad smile tugging on the corners of his mouth, he leant back in the squashy duvet, not letting go of her hand. He lifted his other arm in an invitation, never breaking her gaze.

 _Only if you want_.

There was a second or two of silence, before she quietly lay down against him, tangling their feet and burying her face in his shoulder. She still didn't let go.

All was silent.

And Vin understood. She needed contact; physical touch. Sometimes she just needed a hand to hold, and never got it, because the walls she built around herself were too strong. She just needed something to chase away the loneliness; a sense of _love,_ and Vin knew that.

He'd felt the same way his whole life.

* * *

 **11/10/17**


	9. Forget About Life for a While

**_Title:_ Don't You Forget About Me**

 ** _Summary:_ ****As a whole, Pinkerton barely changed as its students grew older. Sadie Macbeth never abandoned her tyrannical ways, and the Invisible Network never found cause to disband. However, as Macbeth's plans for ultimate rule become increasingly more dangerous, it's only a matter of time before the consequences become deadly.**

 **Thus, the fog begins to settle.**

 **The past catches up with Vin, proving that one cannot hide from their problems forever. Soon he will have to face the music as a man, and not as the scared child he knows he is. Zero must become more invested in the future as a result of her own mistakes – the mistakes she continues to make, marring her life in the worst of ways, creating scars as deep as valleys. Trixie now struggles to keep the seams between the four of them from splitting apart, afraid to lose those she considers family to problems far greater than they can imagine.** **Newton only wants the best for those he loves, but sometimes opening those doorways means exposing oneself to the brutal reality of life. Life, which is meaningless without them.**

 **And so the final stretch begins. The clock is ticking, and it's only a matter of time before it's all over.**

 _ **Rating:**_ **T 13+.**

 _ **Chapter Summary:**_ **Feelings are had. Lots and lots of feelings. Trixie also has a crisis.**

 _ **Chapter Word Count:**_ **3458**

* * *

 **I think you'll like this chapter. Somehow.**

* * *

 _ **8 – Forget About Life for a While**_

At one AM that morning, Zero had taken the horribly familiar path back to her bedroom, absolutely exhausted. Just like every other time, she had felt disgusted with herself, and tried to forget what had happened. When she had finally gotten there, all she could think to do was strip her clothes off ( _disgustingdisgustingdisgustingwhydidIdothatI'mafuckingslut)_ , fumble absently for the packet of little pink pills she kept hidden beneath her pillow, and collapse on the bed.

(When her eyes fluttered close of their own accord, she didn't realise she hadn't taken one. The packet slipped over the edge of the bed and vanished, unnoticed.)

When she woke at eight AM, it was to a disgruntled Trixie who seemed awfully insistent about dragging her to some _goddamn_ class, and all she could do was glare sullenly, the events of the night forgotten.

(That was, until Trixie immediately brought them up.)

By nine AM, she had already almost gotten in a fight, and was now lying on her _third_ bed in twelve hours. The feeling of disgust was back, and she wanted nothing more than to _claw her own fucking skin off –_

'Hey, calm down, _breathe_ – Zero, it's okay, you're here – c'mon, breathe -'

. . . and then she remembered why she _didn't_.

Ten AM. Vin's room. Dark. Quiet.

 _Vin._

Neither of them had moved since they had gotten there, tangled hopelessly together. Vin still didn't let go of her hand.

Secretly, she didn't want him to.

He hadn't asked what had happened. In fact, they hadn't spoken the whole time they were there, and . . . it was nice.

It was what she needed.

Talking about what had happened over the last day wasn't something she really wanted to do. How _exactly_ do you go about telling your best friend that your father is now a drug dealer (in _prison,_ no less), that you're stuck without any other family, and that you just slept with the person he legitimately _hates_ to try and forget about it –

It wasn't something she felt like she could do. Not just yet. But Vin seemed to recognise that. In fact, he had pulled up _The Lord of the Rings_ on his phone and let it play as background noise, continuing from where they left off before that single phone call that sent everything thereafter in a downward spiral.

She _really_ didn't deserve someone like Vin.

Morning became afternoon, which became night, and still nothing was said. Vin produced a bag of chips from the stash hidden under his bed, and though Zero wasn't exactly hungry, she wasn't about to turn down deep-fried salt-and-vinegar goodness. Never in a _million years_ would _that_ happen.

As the temperature gradually dropped, they wound up bundled beneath the blankets, now having moved on to watching _The Hobbit_. Zero wasn't exactly paying attention; she was half asleep, occasionally slipping in and out of consciousness, and she felt far more content than she had been for a _very_ long time. From time to time, Vin's watch would buzz as someone tried to contact him, and he would talk in a low murmur as though he were afraid of rousing her. If he knew she was aware that he was absently stroking her hair with one hand, he didn't show it. She didn't mind, really. Normally such affection would be a cause for objection, but right now she didn't see a problem in it.

This, she decided, was what _home_ felt like.

* * *

She slept, and everything seemed to be okay again.

It was strange for Vin, this kind of affection. Sure, he'd kissed girls, and he had always been a bit of a sucker for hugs (probably due to experiencing a severe lack of them as a kid), but he couldn't really say that he had laid in bed for twelve hours with an emotional wreck latched onto his side like a limpet.

He wasn't complaining, though.

This was easily the most open to affection he had _ever_ seen Zero in his entire life. If you had told him a few years ago that their relationship would evolve to something like this, he would have laughed. Very loudly, and _very awkwardly_.

Now, he was just kind of sad, because he knew Zero was like this because of something _really bad_. He didn't know whether he ought to ask about it. She wasn't exactly the sort to talk about her feelings, and he didn't want a repeat of what had happened with Trixie.

He had been absently threading his fingers through her hair when he finally heard her speak.

'Why is everything so hard?'

He froze, hand still in her hair, before carefully looking down at her. Her eyes were still closed, and her fingers had curled in his shirt sometime during sleep.

'Because life can be a bitch,' he replied softly.

She huffed in quiet laughter. 'You're not wrong.'

They were both quiet for a long moment, before Vin carefully decided to ask about it.

'Would it help to . . . y'know, talk it out? Because I'm happy to listen, if you'd like.'

Zero didn't reply. Her brow furrowed a little, and Vin waited nervously, in case he'd upset her.

Finally, she said something. 'I guess I've got to talk some time.' She sighed heavily, before finally opening her eyes and looking up at him. 'I . . . it's complicated.'

'I'm all ears,' he told her softly. A small, sad smile tugged on the corners of her lips, before she shuffled a bit, propping herself up on the pillows like Vin. She seemed to make sure his arm was still draped around her, like it gave her some sense of security. Then, her next words hit him like a punch in the gut.

'Dad's in prison.'

'Shit,' he muttered, eyes widening. 'Is that -'

'That's where I went yesterday. He's . . . he's been trafficking drugs, and I was the only family left they could call.'

'But . . .' he trailed off, slightly confused. 'You haven't seen him since grade ten. Since he . . .'

Zero had never actually _told_ Vin what her father had done to her, but he was pretty sure he knew.

She fidgeted uncomfortably. 'I know, but . . . I've dealt with him for good. I'm never seeing him again.'

'That's . . . that's rough.' He unintentionally began playing with her hair again, but she didn't seem to mind. 'I can understand why you're not taking it so well.'

'Mmh.' She bit her lip. 'I've . . . I've done things I'm not proud of, Vin.'

'So have I.'

'Yeah, but . . .' She looked uncomfortable. 'I don't think you would look at me the same way.'

He snorted. 'Yeah, right.' He reached up with his free hand and tapped her nose. 'As if _that_ would happen.'

She didn't look convinced, and started to sit up. 'I _did_ say it was complicated.'

'Talk about something else, then.'

She paused, halfway propped up on her arm, looking at him long and hard. Their faces were still very close together, and Vin found himself staring at her eyes, which were reflecting the light from the phone.

'I guess I'm just afraid of being lonely,' she whispered.

'You're allowed to be afraid.' He reached up and gently put a hand on her shoulder, encouraging her to lie back down. She eventually put her head on the pillow beside him, watching him intently in the darkness. 'You're allowed to _feel_.'

'I can't. Not really.' She paused, before adding, 'I can't afford to be weak.'

'Does it scare you?'

'. . . So, _so_ much.'

He laced their hands together once more. 'It's okay.'

The corner of her mouth twitched upward in a smile. 'Thanks.'

They were quiet for a very long time. Vin never took his eyes off her. This all seemed pretty surreal; the way her face was faintly illuminated by the distant phone light. She seemed so comfortable, so gentle, and . . . _so beautiful_ , with the way her long eyelashes were dusting her cheeks, darkened with makeup, and the soft curve of her mouth, and her small, upturned nose. She was _really_ something.

'Hey,' he whispered, gently brushing her cheekbone with the back of his hand. She opened her eyes and hummed softly.

'Hey.'

He traced his thumb down to the corner of her mouth, before smiling slightly. 'You're my best friend.'

It meant _so_ much more than that.

She didn't say anything. Her lips parted slightly, and she squeezed her eyes shut as though she were having some sort of internal struggle. For a moment, Vin worried that she'd understood the full weight of his words, and that something was about to go _seriously_ wrong, as it always did.

But then she reached out, slipped an arm around the back of his neck, and kissed him.

* * *

When someone knocked on Trixie's bedroom door in the middle of the night, her first thought was: _zombies._ Then she realised _exactly_ how stupid that was, closed the Wikipedia page of creepypasta stories she had been reading, and armed herself with a precautionary slipper.

'Who is it?' she called tentatively, immediately cursing herself at how shaky she sounded.

There was another knock, followed by a heavy thump, before a quiet voice mumbled, ' _Meeeeee . . ._ '

Trixie straightened up and frowned, dropping the slipper. 'Excuse me?' She crossed the room to the door and opened it a crack, peering out.

What greeted her was a muddy lump sprawled on the floor.

'Oh my God,' she muttered, stepping out into the hallway. 'Who is – _Liz?_ '

Liz sat up a little and blinked confusedly, before squinting hard at Trixie. 'That . . . that's _my_ room, Beyoncé.' She attempted to point at Trixie's door, but somehow managed to smack herself in the face. 'Ugnnhh . . .'

Trixie folded her arms. 'Please explain to me why you are covered in mud.'

'. . . Fell.'

She tilted her head, noting how unfocused the smaller girl looked. She sighed. ' _Aaaaaand_ you're drunk. Great.'

Liz scowled at her, before trying to wipe some of the mud off her face. She only managed to get it in her eyes. 'M _not drunk_.'

'Of course you aren't,' Trixie agreed absently, stepping out into the hallway and wrapping her dressing gown tighter around herself. 'Hon, what happened?'

Liz sighed forlornly. 'They're too smart for me, lady.' Her bottom lip trembled a bit. 'Can't figure out who they are.'

' _What?_ ' That made no sense whatsoever, but Trixie supposed there was no point in listening to a drunk person. 'Liz, we've got to get you cleaned up, okay?'

'Okay,' she mumbled, nodding along. 'M'kay.'

With a sigh, she got Liz to her feet, before helping her stagger down the hall to the nearest bathroom – one that thankfully had a tub, and closed-off stalls for a little more dignity. Trixie locked the door behind them when they got there, because the last thing she wanted was for someone to walk in while Liz was this smashed. This was a level of vulnerability she felt shouldn't be witnessed by anyone else.

She set Liz down on the bath mat with strict orders to strip her mud-encrusted clothing while she filled up the tub, because she honestly didn't think the other girl was capable of standing up long enough to manage a shower.

Unfortunately, it appeared that drunk people couldn't really undress themselves.

' _Trixieeeeeee_ . . .'

'What – oh dear.'

And so, Trixie had to rescue Liz from the depths of her shirt, which had gotten stuck in a _very_ awkward position over her head.

Rather surprisingly, Trixie was quite accustomed to nudity. That happens when you travel as often as she has – you see sides of the world that aren't exactly your cup of tea. Regardless, she looked away as she stripped the other girl down and helped her into the tub. The last thing she wanted was to be accused of taking advantage of the situation. Once Liz was safely situated in the bath, she sat on the ground beside her and did her best to scrub away the dirt and silt with a washcloth.

'What were you doing outside at this hour?' she asked softly, one hand under Liz's jaw as she gently wiped the worst of it off her face.

Liz blinked slowly, before looking around as though to be sure no one else was there. Then, in a whisper Trixie supposed was intended to be conspiring, she said, 'I was running away.' She nodded seriously, before continuing. 'Then fell over 'n' wanted t'sleep.'

'Why were you running away?'

'She's gonna get me.'

Trixie paused, a sense of horror building in her gut. 'Who?'

'She's mad,' Liz continued. 'Cause I'm not doin' my job good.'

' _Who?_ ' Trixie repeated, now feeling slightly urgent.

Liz sighed, before shaking her head and nearly slipping backwards. 'Me,' she said, as though it were obvious. 'Me, me, me, me, me . . .'

And then, Trixie realised she was getting worried over the ramblings of a drunkard. 'Come on,' she said softly. 'Let's get you cleaned up, and you can sleep this off.'

She jumped in surprise with Liz then grabbed her arm, eyes wide with urgency. 'Don't leave,' she begged. 'Or she'll find me.'

'I won't go,' Trixie assured her. 'No one is going to hurt you.'

She sighed forlornly. 'He already did.'

Something in her gut lurched at that, and with a slight sense of horror, Trixie asked another question.

'How did . . . how did "he" hurt you?'

Liz didn't reply.

'Liz, honey? Did anyone . . . did someone touch you?'

She shook her head. 'He was gon' marry me . . .'

Trixie swallowed uncomfortably, now hyperaware that Liz _definitely_ wouldn't be saying this if she were sober. 'I . . . I'm going to help you to bed, okay? A-and if you still want to tomorrow, you can talk to me about it. Capisce?'

'Capisce,' she mumbled, giving Trixie a lazy grin. 'Double capisce.'

'Though I _really_ doubt that will be the case,' Trixie mumbled to herself, before pulling the bath plug and grabbing a nearby towel. She wrapped it around Liz like a dress and helped her totter to her feet, before taking a second towel and mopping up the worst of the water.

Liz was surprisingly steady when Trixie guided her back to her room, and was capable enough of pulling on a loose-fitting set of pyjamas. Once she was buried beneath several blankets and already starting to drift off, Trixie hesitated awkwardly, before bidding her goodbye with a hasty kiss on the forehead, and switching the light off.

They never talked about that night.

* * *

Safe to say, Vin's brain promptly short-circuited.

He had, for a fact, kissed _many_ people in his lifetime. None of those occasions however, had been an emotional investment. None of those occasions had been in the middle of the night, after an entire day spent binge-watching _The Lord of the Rings_. None of those occasions had been _Zero_.

(Romeo and Juliet didn't count.)

He had gone prone with shock for a solid five seconds before he properly accepted that _this was happening_. Then he clumsily flung an arm around her waist and pulled her closer, responding with a level of enthusiasm that was rather surprising for him. Was he supposed to do this? Was he _allowed_ to do this? Would she punch him after, because she was _Zero?_

Then, he realised, he didn't care. If this was happening, _it was happening_ , and he wasn't going to let it slip through his fingers.

She started to pull away, eyes wide as though she couldn't believe she'd had such a lapse in self-control, but Vin growled in indignation and dragged her straight back in.

In hindsight, it was a little embarrassing.

It was a long time before either of them came up for air. When that finally happened, her cheeks were flushed, and her eyes a little wild.

'Vin,' she said, 'I don't know if this is a good idea.'

He scoffed. 'Since when have either of us had good ideas?'

She considered that thought for a moment. 'That's true.'

'Besides -' He leaned forward and kissed her again. 'We're not exactly the sort of people to listen to reason.'

She smirked a little at that. 'I guess not.'

Feeling cocky, he kissed once more. This time it didn't really stop, it just softened into something gentle; _loving_ , almost. Vin hadn't intended to think of it that way, but he realised it was probably true.

Zero was generally a brash individual, hardened by years of struggle and shaped into someone who didn't trust easily. She didn't let herself be pushed around, and she rarely succumbed to any extreme emotion in public. Vin hadn't pegged her for someone who did things like this, either.

Though, what "this" meant was a bit subjective. He didn't know for himself.

She pulled away again, but this time only the slightest space was left between their mouths. Her eyes were scrunched up, as though she were forcing herself away.

'I've done awful things, Vin.'

'We already talked about this,' he said softly, reaching up to brush a strand of hair out of her face. 'I know you have a past; we all do. But that doesn't change who you are _now_.'

She exhaled slowly, before opening her eyes again and looking directly into his. Her gaze was piercing, yet he didn't feel the need to look away. 'I don't believe a word you're saying,' she told him, 'but I appreciate the sentiment.' She smiled softly, albeit a little sadly. 'Thank you.'

'I promise I'm not going anywhere.'

She closed that space between them, pushing him back into the pillows and kissing him deeply. This time he was at least marginally prepared for the onslaught of emotions that hit him, and he could actually _focus_ on what was going on. He settled his hands on her hips, quite content to let himself be kissed at whatever pace. He wasn't quite sure how this was supposed to work, but he didn't mind.

She seemed to know, however.

She paused long enough to yank at his shirt and say ' _Off_ ,' and Vin was happy enough to comply, tugging it haphazardly over his head and tossing it onto the floor. Then she leaned back a little with a scrutinising look, absently tracing over his abs with her fingertips.

'You already know you're pretty, so I'm not going to inflate your ego,' she told him with a knowing nod. When he pouted indignantly, she cracked a grin. 'Alright, I think you're pretty. Happy?'

'I'd rather "handsome", or "super-mega hot", but that'll do.'

She rolled her eyes. 'Picky.'

He grinned in return. 'Picky, but pretty.'

'True,' she agreed, before pulling off her tank top and grabbing his face between her hands, pulling him in for another kiss. It took Vin half a second longer to respond this time, because his brain had short-circuited once again.

 _What just happened?_

Contrary to popular belief, Vin was actually a virgin. He had gotten a bit of a reputation over the years, but that was more because he was "devastatingly handsome" than anything else. He _certainly_ hadn't seen a girl shirtless before, let alone slept with one.

Not that he was complaining, though.

'Are you sure about this?' he asked between kisses, because he was _not_ about to be the kind of asshole who didn't check these things.

She paused long enough to roll her eyes again. 'I gave up on being sure a long time ago.' She kissed the corner of his jaw, before hesitantly asking, 'Are you?'

He looked at her for a moment. Her eyes were always so calculating, even in the current circumstances. She certainly wasn't stupid, despite what some people (complete _jackasses_ , mind you) might say. 'Yeah,' he said softly. 'I'm sure.'

'Okay.' She brushed her thumb along his jawline, callouses catching slightly on the day-old stubble there. She swallowed, then nodded slightly, as though assuring herself. 'Okay.'

'We don't -' Whatever Vin was going to say – he didn't really know, to be honest – was cut off as she kissed him once more. His hands brushed her sharp hipbones, before skimming up along her stomach, which, as expected, was taut muscle.

She huffed a quiet laugh. 'Tickles,' she muttered, before catching his hands with her own and lacing their fingers.

He grinned. 'I forgot you were ticklish.'

' _Don't you dare.'_

'I might just . . .'

' _Vin._ '

'Alright, alright.'

Damn, she was beautiful.

* * *

 **23/10/17**


	10. Now I'll Run From You

**_Title:_ Don't You Forget About Me**

 ** _Summary:_ ****As a whole, Pinkerton barely changed as its students grew older. Sadie Macbeth never abandoned her tyrannical ways, and the Invisible Network never found cause to disband. However, as Macbeth's plans for ultimate rule become increasingly more dangerous, it's only a matter of time before the consequences become deadly.**

 **Thus, the fog begins to settle.**

 **The past catches up with Vin, proving that one cannot hide from their problems forever. Soon he will have to face the music as a man, and not as the scared child he knows he is. Zero must become more invested in the future as a result of her own mistakes – the mistakes she continues to make, marring her life in the worst of ways, creating scars as deep as valleys. Trixie now struggles to keep the seams between the four of them from splitting apart, afraid to lose those she considers family to problems far greater than they can imagine.** **Newton only wants the best for those he loves, but sometimes opening those doorways means exposing oneself to the brutal reality of life. Life, which is meaningless without them.**

 **And so the final stretch begins. The clock is ticking, and it's only a matter of time before it's all over.**

 _ **Rating:**_ **T 13+.**

 _ **Chapter Summary:**_ **Vin comes clean about something important. Like, _mega important._ Trixie continues to have a crisis. Crises are had all over the show. **

_**Chapter Word Count:**_ **3150**

* * *

 **Hullo, all.**

 **I just want to clear something up before this chapter begins; I've always imagined Zero as Italian. I don't quite know why, I just have, so in this story she's half - on her mother's side. I know in the show she has a lot to do with Asian culture, but I'm choosing to see that as a cultural interest that developed when she learnt self defence, rather than because of her familial background. Just wanted to clear that up.**

 **FYI, my Italian's a little rusty, so I might have bungled it a bit. Apologies if I have.**

* * *

 _ **9 – Now I'll Run From You**_

That was the first time she did not leave. It was also the first time she slept until morning, though she pretended those two things were unrelated.

* * *

When Vin was startled awake by his alarm clock, he flailed so violently he nearly fell out of bed. He cursed, rubbing his bleary eyes, before remembering that he wasn't alone.

He didn't know what he expected, but he was surprised to see that Zero was still there, so deep in sleep that the alarm didn't wake her. A sense of fondness settled in his gut, and he reached out to brush some of her hair out of her face. She stirred a little at his touch, but didn't wake up.

 _I love you_.

He didn't mean for the thought to cross his mind, but when it did, he drew in a sharp intake of breath. Did he? Did he love her? That was stupid; of course he did, but was he _in love_ with her?

She snuffled slightly in sleep, pressing her face forward into his shoulder. Purely out of reflex, he brought his other hand up to drape over her bare waist beneath the blankets.

'Vin?' she mumbled sleepily. Her feet tangled with his.

'Didn't mean to wake you,' he replied.

'S fine. Are we late for breakfast?'

'Nah.'

She exhaled heavily. 'I should probably apologise to Trix.'

'That wouldn't be a bad idea,' Vin agreed. 'But she called, and she says she "understands your position", whatever that means.'

She seemed to know. 'Okay.' She rubbed her eyes. 'Okay.'

'I . . . I've been thinking.'

'That's new.'

'Oh, shut up.' He poked her shoulder. 'I just think it's time I talked to you about something important. You were saying you've got a past; well, so do I. And . . . and I want you to know about it.'

She froze. 'Is this the part where you tell me you've been living a double life as a serial killer?'

' _What? No.'_

'Alright, just checking.'

He pulled a face. 'Rude.'

She yawned, before propping herself up a little and pulling her hair into a messy ponytail. 'Alright, if you say so. Now spill.'

He drew in a deep breath. 'Alright. Okay. So . . . nearly five years ago, now, something _really bad_ happened.' He wrung his hands, bracing himself to continue. I, uh, well, I'm the only one who actually remembers it.'

Zero was immediately on her guard. 'Is this something to do with when Macbeth stole our memories?'

He shook his head. 'No, actually. It was a few months before that. See, we'd gone on a mission to steal something – don't remember what, to be honest – but, well, it gave Macbeth ideas. She'd almost caught us, you see, since your phone started ringing and all, but -'

She cut him off. 'I've never had my phone turned on out in the field,' she told him, eyes narrowing. 'I make sure of it.'

He scratched his nose absently. ' _Yeah_ , well, uh . . . This time you did. But that's not the point. Macbeth got mad because she was so close to catching us, and I think it gave her an idea. She -' He cut off and swallowed heavily, now very aware of Zero's eyes boring into him. 'She made a time machine.'

'And I know nothing of this because . . . ?'

'She wiped you from existence,' he whispered, fists clenching. 'All three of you.'

Her expression became incredulous. ' _How?_ ' she asked, sitting up abruptly, not caring when the bedsheets slipped down to her waist. ' _How, Vin?'_

'She stopped your parents from meeting. If they never were, then neither were you.'

She looked away, stunned. 'Oh my god,' she breathed, before shaking her head. 'That bitch did Mom a favour, then.'

'Don't say that,' Vin started, but she cut him off.

'How come she didn't get you?'

He smiled ruefully. 'I'm all alone, remember? It's what saved me – I'm an _orphan_. As far as anyone is concerned, my parents are nameless, and probably dead. Macbeth had no way of finding them. So, I took the watch from her and set things right.' He exhaled heavily. 'We had a bit of fun with it for a while, making Macbeth the school gardener and all, but I knew I had to fix it for good. So, that one last time, I made sure none of you would have any memory of it. It was too awful.'

She was silent, and that unnerved him more than he would have liked.

'It was strange,' he continued, feeling that it was best to get absolutely everything out in the open. 'Like, I've _seen_ your mom. Your mom seventeen years in the past, sure, but I still saw her.' He reached out and carefully tucked a strand of hair behind Zero's ear. 'She was . . . very young. You've got her face.'

She flinched violently at that, and he quickly withdrew his hand.

'You'd know, then,' she said hoarsely. 'You'd know how much of a fucked-up relationship it was.'

He shrugged a little. 'Well . . . I think they really did love each other, once upon a time. It just didn't . . . last.'

She finally turned to look at him, and her eyes seemed to have darkened with anger. 'You know what he said?' she ground out. 'You know what he said to me?' When he shook his head, she continued, fists clenching. 'He said that she was working in _bars_ , doing _God knows what_ , and he _never told me_ that he _knew_. He _knew_ where she went! He fucking _knew!_ '

'I'm sorry, Zero -'

' _Dispiace anche a me!_ ' A beat of silence passed. She exhaled shakily, before putting her head in her hands. Vin had no clue what she'd just said, but he knew that she _rarely_ spoke Italian around anyone else, and only when she was really distressed. In fact, Vin didn't even _know_ she was part Italian until he'd seen her mother in the past.

'Zero?' he said softly.

' _Si?_ '

'English, please.'

This drew the tiniest snort of laughter from her, and she lifted her head again, wiping at her eyes. ' _La prego di accettare le mie scuse_ ,' she told him dryly, as a smile tugged at her lips.

He squinted at her. 'Did you just insult me?'

'Nah.' She wrinkled her nose. ' _God forbid_ I use the language of the homeland, though.'

'I don't have a _problem_ with it,' he cried, 'I just don't know a word you're saying.'

She gave him a deadpan look. 'Please accept my apologies.'

'What for?'

'That's what I said!' she replied, throwing her hands out in indignation. 'You said "Speak in English", so I said "Please, _accept my apologies_ ", in the most sarcastic manner possible. You just misinterpreted it.'

' _Oh._ '

' _Yeah._ ' She swatted him on the arm. 'You're _so useless_.'

He was quiet for a moment. 'You know, it was really hard to tell if I was doing things properly. You know, when I was fixing the past.'

She raised an eyebrow, though her eyes seemed guarded once again. 'Oh?'

'Yeah, well, your mom was talking in Italian all the time, so I hadn't the slightest clue what was going on, and your dad has the thickest New York accent I've _ever_ come across – it's a wonder that you're so articulate.' He grinned.

She punched him again. ' _Rude_. Mam– _Mom's_ English was really good, actually.'

He raised his hands in surrender. 'Alright, I believe you.'

She exhaled, her mood sobering again. 'So, you saw Dad too.'

He tentatively reached out to touch her shoulder. 'He wasn't so bad in the beginning, you know. I've seen worse fathers.'

She lowered her gaze, tension causing her hackles to rise. 'You don't know what he did to me.'

'It's okay, you don't have to tell.' Vin had a feeling he already knew.

She pinched the bridge of her nose. 'I can't believe you didn't tell me sooner. This is big, Vin.'

'I thought you'd be mad,' he admitted.

She levelled her gaze at him. 'Who says I'm not?' Her reply was blunt. _Too blunt._ 'It's just . . . taking a while to process. She looked around, finally seeming to realise that they were both stark naked. 'Where's my bra?'

He blinked, surprised at the turn in conversation. 'Wait, what?'

'Bra,' she repeated shortly, before leaning over him and grabbing it off the floor. 'I need to go.'

'You don't even know what time it is.'

'So?' It seemed like the irritation was just starting to set in; her hands trembled as she tried to hook the clasps. Vin reached out to help her, but drew back at her sharp, ' _Don't_.'

He didn't stop her as she went about getting dressed, as a sinking feeling in his gut told him he wouldn't be able to help the situation. He pulled on a pair of pants himself before sitting down at his desk chair, waiting silently as she piled her hair atop her head in some messy approximation of a bun. Then she turned, jabbing a finger in his direction.

'I'm _not_ talking to you,' she warned. 'I'll see you later, but I won't be happy about it.'

He exhaled heavily. 'Zero -' But she was gone before he could even think of what to say, leaving the door ajar.

She was no stranger to the Walk of Shame, it seemed.

* * *

'Alright, kiddo, I'm going to show you how to pull off a basic, run-of-the-mill brainwashing.'

'Isn't that a bit unorthodox?'

'Well, since you seem to be taking your sweet time unmasking I.N.K, I've decided I need a hobby to keep myself busy. If that means training an apprentice, so be it.'

Though she would never let herself admit it, Sadie Macbeth scared Liz _absolutely shitless._ So much in fact, that Liz was hardly about to go and let her get bored, should she become the next target.

Liz folded her arms and sat in the seat opposite Macbeth's desk. 'Alright, then. What ideas have you got?'

Macbeth pushed a large stack of papers across the desk with practised ease. 'These are some of the plans that have failed in the past. I thought perhaps with your insight, you may be able to think of something with a higher success chance.'

There was a beat of silence, before Liz gingerly reached out and picked them up. She looked through them, and though it was a brief skim, she felt increasingly more horrified the longer she read. 'Holy shit,' she breathed. 'You're hardcore, lady.'

Macbeth arched a thin eyebrow in careful satisfaction. 'Why, thank you.'

'Um.' Liz bit her lip, now starting to feel somewhat inspired by what she read, however much it may have repulsed her. 'Well . . . How about this one?' She pulled out one sheet, before continuing to look through. 'Aaaaaaand . . . this one. And this one.' Collecting the sheets up, she handed them back to Macbeth. 'You know the age-old debate of "brains verses brawn"? Pick out a few specimens and manipulate them into servitude. From what I've gathered so far, this "Invisible Network" would have to be made up of braniacs. How else would they have kept out of reach for so long? So, if you can't beat them in the intelligence field, bring them in by brute force.' She tilted her head. 'I'm sure a few of these kids are struggling a bit in the "feelings department". That'd leave them vulnerable.'

'Exploiting weaknesses, hmm?' Macbeth surveyed her with a keen eye. 'It seems you've had a bit of practice in this, Miss Elizabeth. I quite approve.'

Liz wasn't really sure if that was a good thing.

* * *

Straight off the bat, Newton knew something was wrong. _Really wrong_.

Trixie was _humming_.

'What's got you in such a good mood?' he asked cautiously as he stirred his coffee. She simply beamed in response.

'Meeting in Headquarters at lunch. I've got big news.'

'You can't tell me now?'

'Well, I've got to tell Vin and Zero, too.' She took a careful sip of tea, before continuing. 'Assuming that Zero's in a better mood, anyway.'

He gave her a dry look. 'Yeah, your odds aren't gonna be good.'

She threw a sugar packet at his head. 'Leave her alone; she's had a rough week.'

He dodged it easily, before sniggering as it landed in Hector's passing cereal bowl. 'I'm quite aware.' He was all _too_ aware, if Liz had been telling the truth about what she saw the other night.

Trixie stuck a piece of toast between her teeth, before grabbing Newton's phone from his unsuspecting hands and doing something he couldn't quite see. She ignored his squawk of indignation, before eventually giving it back. It then became apparent she was texting Vin, demanding his whereabouts.

A reply came almost immediately.

 _im coming. Idk where Zero is_

Newton raised his eyebrows at this, before nudging Trixie. 'Finding Zero might be harder than usual,' he said. 'She's probably gone walkabout.'

'Who's gone walkabout?' a new voice interrupted. Zero sat down opposite them, slamming down a mug of coffee with more force than would ordinarily be deemed necessary. Trixie looked up at this, eyes widening as she took in her dishevelled appearance. 'Where have you _been?_ '

'Walking,' came the flat reply. 'Thinking.'

'You can _do_ that?' Newton quipped, mentally crossing his fingers in the hopes that it would improve her mood somewhat. Funnily enough, it did.

A dry smile tugged on the corners of her lips. 'It wasn't good,' she replied. 'I don't intend to do it again.'

'That's the spirit,' he replied encouragingly. 'Who needs brains, anyway?'

'Not me.' She lazily raised a fist and he bumped it, grinning.

'There you are.' Vin had appeared at Trixie's shoulder, and he was watching Zero with an unreadable expression. 'I didn't know where you went.'

She didn't look up at him. 'Did it matter?'

'Well . . .' He never finished his sentence, sitting in the only vacant seat beside her. Something was _off_ with the two of them – their dynamic seemed oddly stilted, like some unspoken argument was simmering beneath the surface. Trixie also seemed to notice this, and scrutinised them with narrowed eyes. However, while there was obviously an issue there, she didn't mention it.

'I've got news,' she announced, now buttering a second piece of toast. 'I think you'll like it.'

'Your parents have invited us for Christmas again?' Vin asked, smirking slightly. 'Trix, it happens every single year. It's not "news".'

'It's not just that, though,' she told him. 'They've invited you all for whole week, not just for the day.' She grinned at Vin and Zero. 'You two won't have to stay here alone for the rest of the time.'

Zero gave a small smile. 'Thanks, Trix. I appreciate that.'

'And crashing your celebrations is the closest I'll get to having a real family,' Vin added. 'I'm not about to give that up.'

'Shut up,' Trixie told him, point a finger. 'You _are_ family, idiot. It doesn't count as crashing if you're invited.'

Vin tried to play nonchalant, but Newton knew he was pleased. 'Aww, shucks.'

She patted his shoulder. 'Besides, Mom's always wanted a son. She's practically adopted you.'

His cheeks coloured, and he gave a tiny grin. 'You know . . .' He paused, before clasping Trixie's tiny hand between his two larger ones and shaking it slightly. 'You know, I think I'm okay with that.'

Though he clearly couldn't put it into words, they all know what he meant by it.

* * *

'Hey, Trixie.'

Trixie held up a finger and continued her frenzied typing, knowing that if she didn't write this now, she would lose her train of thought. A few seconds later, she finished the sentence and looked up to find Liz standing by the chair opposite her. Aside from the two of them, the library was empty. 'Liz. Hi.'

'You too busy to talk?' she asked, tilting her head. 'I can come back later -'

'No, it's alright. Sit.'

Liz hesitated, but eventually dumped herself in the chair with the grace of a drunken sloth. 'I wanted to -'

'Was the hangover bad?' Trixie asked before she could stop herself. Then she winced, shaking her head. 'I'm sorry, that was out of line -'

'It's alright,' Liz replied, though now she seemed rather tense. She didn't meet Trixie's eyes, but instead stared somewhere to her left. 'Anyway, I wanted to ask about something.'

'Fire away.'

She opened her mouth to speak, but after a second, closed it again. 'Never mind. It's stupid.'

Trixie blinked. 'I – okay. But, you _can_ ask, you know.'

Liz waved her off. 'Don't worry about it.' She pushed the chair back and started to get to her feet.

' _Liz_ ,' Trixie wheedled. 'What's wrong?'

She paused, before giving a little shrug and a tiny, awkward grin. 'Can you . . . can you help me with the math homework?'

Trixie wasn't stupid; she knew that wasn't what Liz originally wanted, but she had a feeling she oughtn't pry. 'Sure,' she said, patting the spot beside her. Liz got up and moved around the table, before sitting there. 'Was there anything in particular?'

'Just . . . just go from the top.'

'Alright.'

And so they sat; talking in murmured voices as Trixie reviewed what they had been learning, and Liz listened attentively. Though she tried not to, Trixie found herself staring at Liz more than the textbook, taking in everything from the gentle slope of her jaw to the little freckle beneath her right eye. She noted that her hair took on a copper sheen in the lamplight, and that she chewed her bottom lip when she was confused. She would fiddle absently with the end of her ponytail when she was thinking, and the whole time they sat there her right leg would bounce to a constant rhythm, as though she always had to be moving. Normally she would find that annoying, but with Liz it was just . . . _nice._

Trixie was _so_ done for.

'Trix?'

'Hm?'

Liz tucked her pen behind her ear, and even that small, innocent movement made her chest clench uncomfortably. 'I'm gonna call it a night. Thanks for the help.'

'No worries.'

Liz grinned, slightly hesitant for a moment. Then she quickly leaned forward and kissed Trixie on the cheek. 'Thanks.'

Her heart promptly dropped out of her chest.

 _Holy shit._

'It's . . . all good,' she replied faintly, trying to appear unaffected. She didn't think she was doing a good job – her face felt like it was on fire. Liz smiled again, closed the textbook, and left.

Trixie's head promptly hit the table with a dull _thunk_.

 _Damn it._

* * *

 **Translation:**

 _ **Dispiace anche a me:**_ **I'm sorry too**

 _ **Si:**_ **Yes**

 ** _La prego di accettare le mie scuse:_ Please accept my apologies**

* * *

 **31/10/17**


	11. The Things That You Do

**_Title:_ Don't You Forget About Me**

 ** _Summary:_ ****As a whole, Pinkerton barely changed as its students grew older. Sadie Macbeth never abandoned her tyrannical ways, and the Invisible Network never found cause to disband. However, as Macbeth's plans for ultimate rule become increasingly more dangerous, it's only a matter of time before the consequences become deadly.**

 **Thus, the fog begins to settle.**

 **The past catches up with Vin, proving that one cannot hide from their problems forever. Soon he will have to face the music as a man, and not as the scared child he knows he is. Zero must become more invested in the future as a result of her own mistakes – the mistakes she continues to make, marring her life in the worst of ways, creating scars as deep as valleys. Trixie now struggles to keep the seams between the four of them from splitting apart, afraid to lose those she considers family to problems far greater than they can imagine.** **Newton only wants the best for those he loves, but sometimes opening those doorways means exposing oneself to the brutal reality of life. Life, which is meaningless without them.**

 **And so the final stretch begins. The clock is ticking, and it's only a matter of time before it's all over.**

 _ **Rating:**_ **T 13+. Maybe crank it up to 14+ for this one. Idk.**

 _ **Chapter Summary:**_ **Zero's bad decisions come back to bite her. _Really hard_. Vin's completely clueless, but Trixie and Newton do their best to help. **

_**Chapter Word Count:**_ **4262**

* * *

 **I actually wrote most of this back in March, that's why the update is so quick. It was just a matter of copy and paste, then making minor alterations so it flowed smoothly. Shit's getting serious. Even more serious than before, if that's possible. I fully understand if some of you will hate me for this plot twist.**

* * *

 _ **10 – The Things That You Do**_

The next few weeks passed remarkably uneventfully. Zero refused to talk to Vin, however after the first few days she started to realise it was out of sheer stubbornness than any particularly negative reason. Whenever her resolve started to waver (which was about twice a day, to be honest), she would remind herself that if Vin could keep a secret for five years, she could hold a grudge for as long as she pleased.

She just wasn't quite sure if she wanted to do that anymore.

To be honest, she wasn't really sure why she was so upset. Vin would look at her across Headquarters with those _fucking_ puppy eyes, and it would feel like someone had literally just grabbed her heart and _squeezed_. She always had to look away just to get the feeling to stop.

She had no clue how she felt. Like Trixie would say, she'd never really been an individual who was really in touch with her emotions – if she felt something of any particular extremity, she shoved it down until it went away, or . . . dealt with it in a really bad manner. Exhibit A: Burt. Exhibit B: Fucking up her relationship with Vin. Things just . . . weren't working.

Zero knew her day was going to be pretty shitty when she spent a good ten minutes upending the contents of her stomach in the girls' bathroom. Though, she supposed, it was her own fault for eating too much junk last night. Chocolate had never really agreed with her.

She'd curled herself up in a miserable ball, leaning against the toilet stall and waiting for the next torrent of hell to unleash itself, when her headphones buzzed, followed by Trixie bombarding her with some nonsense about Macbeth and something to do with some "Russian Sleep Experiment". Her head was still spinning, so it took a good couple of seconds to regain her senses and actually listen to what she was saying.

'. . . and it's had me thinking – the _things_ she's done to us all! Our bodies should have broken down completely by now, especially considering all of the mental abuse it entails. Imagine if she'd kept us from sleeping for a few more days, huh? What honestly could have happened? I mean, I know all that stuff with the Experiment isn't real, but -'

'Trix, could you tell someone who can actually focus?' Zero interrupted, wincing as her voice cracked. 'Because right now, I'm trying to stop myself from passing out. Newton might be a better audience for your theories. And for the love of God, _get off the internet and_ _stop reading creepypastas_.'

There was a pause. Then the headset crackled, before Trixie haltingly asked, 'Zero, what's wrong?'

'Don't worry about it, I'm just a bit sick. All I was saying is that -'

' _Zero._ I swear, if you're hungover again -'

'Calm down, I'm just vomiting. I'm fine.'

Trixie sighed. 'Oh my God. _Zero_.'

She didn't hear her say anything else, because her stomach lurched horribly, and she started the arduous puking cycle all over again.

She didn't really know how long it all lasted, since she was more bothered by her shaking muscles and watering eyes, but she jolted in panic when she heard the bathroom door creak open.

'Zero?'

Honestly, Trixie's voice couldn't have been more welcoming right then.

'Over here,' she mumbled, before coughing and throwing up once more. Trixie's face appeared in the gap between the stall and the floor and she made a funny little noise of distress, before sliding herself on her stomach and into the stall beside Zero.

'Flu?' she asked questioningly, carefully pulling Zero's hair back from her face and dabbing away at some of the mess with a tissue miraculously produced from nowhere.

'I have _no fucking clue_ ,' she muttered, her voice shaky and weak. 'Honestly.'

'Come on,' Trixie said softly. 'Let's get you up to Headquarters. At least there you'll be comfortable.' She helped her to her feet and unlocked the stall door before wrapping a supporting arm around Zero's waist, ignoring the instinctive growl the blonde let out at being assisted. In the end, Trixie's persistence proved worthwhile, as her trembling knees immediately buckled under the unwanted pressure and she nearly toppled back into her own sick the moment she got up.

She pressed her fingers to her temples, trying to ignore the nauseating pounding that rattled her skull. 'Ugh.'

'I know,' Trixie agreed absently, giving her a small, persistent tug toward the door way. 'Let's go.'

Headquarters was predictably empty when they arrived. Being the weekend, Newton was most likely pursuing his _particularly_ serious relationship with his bed, and Vin . . . it was debatable. He could be anywhere for all she cared.

Which she didn't.

Trixie dumped Zero on the couch and went digging through the cupboard for some aspirin, seemingly trying to suss out the severity of the situation.

'Any shivering?'

'No,' Zero replied dully, flopping back into the cushions as her stomach jolted warningly once more.

'Any weird hot-cold temperature changes?'

'Bit hard to tell.'

'Been oversleeping?'

'You know I don't.'

Trixie paused for a moment in her search, turning to glare. 'Well that doesn't help _anything_ , you idiot. Honestly, you should get more than four hours of sleep a night.'

'Bah. Sleep is for the weak.'

'So it seems,' she replied disinterestedly. 'When did you last eat?'

'Last night.'

Trixie reappeared at her side, now armed with a glass of water and a couple of tablets. 'Here, take these. I'll go make you some toast and a cup of tea. Ginger or peppermint?'

'Thanks _Mom_ , but I really don't need it.'

'Ginger it is, then. And I'll send Vin up to annoy you.'

Zero's heart stuttered painfully in her chest. 'Don't,' she said quickly, before realising that Trixie was completely unaware of their current situation. 'He won't come.'

Trixie snorted in a close approximation to " _yeah, right_ ," before jumping up into the shaft and disappearing without another word.

* * *

The last thing Zero intended was to fall asleep, but naturally, that was what happened. When she finally stirred from heavy dreams of blurry faces and scathing words, it took a moment to process that her shirt had been taken off – and folded neatly by her feet – and that a number of gadgets were sitting on the floor next to her, beeping and whirring. Trixie was sitting in her usual chair up at the computer, but something about her posture seemed wrong. Her shoulders were hunched anxiously, and only an idiot wouldn't suspect something was off. Naturally, Zero was one to assume the worst of every situation.

'Trix?'

The other girl started violently, nearly falling off the chair in her surprise. 'Zero! _Zero –_ I, _oh -_ '

Zero sat up, narrowing her eyes and reaching over to grab her shirt.

'What's going on?' she asked carefully, pulling it back over her head.

Trixie chewed her lip. 'I really don't know what to say.' She absently fidgeted with a lock of her dark hair. 'See, I decided to run some tests to figure out what was wrong with you – it didn't seem like the flu, except for the vomiting, you see – so I hooked you up to the computer and did a few scans on your abdomen. Except, well . . .' She trailed off, and with a lurch of horror, Zero realised it was _pity_ in her eyes.

Pity.

She got sharply to her feet, ignoring the world as it began to spin violently about her. ' _What. Is. Going. On._ '

'. . . I thought, well, I thought it couldn't be possible; but then again, what would I know, especially with all that's been going on with you lately, anything could be happening -'

' _Trixie._ '

'- and _Vin_ , what about Vin? I mean, there's other possibilities, but who else's could it possibly be? I mean, it's freaking ironic – reminded me of those robot rabbits, actually – and, well I started panicking, naturally -'

' _Trixie!'_

Trixie let out a small, upset whine, and scrubbed a hand over her face, before looking Zero dead in the eye. Several long, terrifying beats passed before she spoke. And when she did, the metaphorical penny flew into the air.

'It has to be Vin's,' she whispered. ' _Please_ tell me it is.'

' _What_ is -'

'And you have to promise you won't leave. You really _can't_ ; I don't know what we'd do without you. We've all been together for so long, and I know how irrational you can get, so -'

'Damn it, I -'

'But I wish I could say I'm _so_ sorry. I really do. But I can't. This . . . it's really _something._ '

'What do you mean?'

And Trixie smiled; a weak, shaky twitch of the lips, and her eyes crinkled at the edges like she was delighted and terrified at the same time – something Zero had never, _ever_ seen before. Trixie never got scared. She was so unshakeable that it was actually _freaky_ sometimes. That was fact.

'You're pregnant.'

And the penny dropped.

* * *

'You alright, Vin?'

Vin rested his head in his hands, barely sparing Newton a glance as he sat down beside him. He exhaled heavily.

'Something's wrong. _Really wrong_. I just . . . don't know what.'

* * *

Zero didn't know if she'd faint.

She didn't care.

Instead, it felt like the air had been crushed from her lungs, and she looked at Trixie in horror, those same two words echoing around her mind.

 _You'repregnantyou'repregnantyou'repregnantyou'repregnant –_

She nearly threw up yet again.

'Please tell me you're joking,' she whispered in a tiny voice. ' _Please._ '

'I wish I could,' Trixie replied quietly, taking her hands to steady her. 'I _really_ wish I could.'

A little voice in her mind began to protest. It couldn't be possible, it _couldn't –_

And yet she knew that wasn't true. It was all _too_ possible.

Fucking karma.

'I _can't_ have a _baby!_ ' she hissed shrilly, looking at Trixie with wild eyes. 'I can't – I'm not – I was on the pill - I am the _last_ person on this fucking _planet_ that could do that!'

'Please don't say that, you know it's not true,' Trixie replied, shifting her grip to Zero's shoulders. 'You _can_ -'

'I wasn't raised right – I _ran away_ , for fuck's sake – and I wouldn't know good parenting from bad; I mean, I taught my goddamn rabbit how to beat people up the first day I had it! Even _Vin_ said so -' She cut short suddenly, as it all began to process.

 _Three cheers for teaching non-violence._

Vin.

 _What -_

And . . . Burt.

Oh God.

Her legs gave out from under her.

'This is something you can _learn_ ,' Trixie insisted, guiding her back to the couch. 'You won't be like your father, Zero, I promise. And we'll be there to help, if you want us to be. You're not alone in this. And with your rabbit; you were _twelve_ , Zero – you couldn't have cared less whether that thing lived or died, and neither did I, to be honest. But you've learnt _so much_ since then, and you know right from wrong, even if you don't think so.'

'I . . .' Her hands shook, and she twisted them together agitatedly. 'But . . . who's the father?'

Trixie froze, looking at her with unnervingly wide eyes. Several long, tense beats passed before she spoke.

'You . . . you mean you don't _know?_ '

'Don't look at me like _that!_ ' she shot back, her hackles immediately rising. 'I'm not a _slut_ , I just . . .' She trailed off, now desperately trying to stop the tears that threatened to well up in her eyes. 'I just . . . things haven't been _okay_ lately.'

'I've gathered that much,' Trixie assured her, fumbling around in her pocket for something. When she pulled out her pen, Zero felt her panic soar further. 'Newton, are you in the cafeteria? Yeah, could you bring some tea up to Headquarters? Decaf? Thanks.'

'What are you doing?' Zero asked, her voice slightly higher than usual. She really couldn't stomach the thought of anyone else finding out what was going on so quickly.

'Don't worry, I won't tell him if you don't want me to,' Trixie assured her. 'I just think you need something warm to drink. It'll calm you down, anyway. But . . . I think you might need to fill me in on some loopholes.'

Her instinctive reaction was to say no. However, the more she thought about it, the more she began to realise that she _really_ needed to let it all out; especially considering how long she'd been keeping it hidden away in the darkest corner of her mind.

She exhaled.

The tension lifted from her shoulders.

And finally, she began to speak.

* * *

'You . . . you know how Van and Burt have been fighting? She thinks he's been cheating?'

In all the years they had known each other, Trixie had never seen Zero _properly_ cry. Only once, when Macbeth had conned Burt into wearing a cyber-electronic bodysuit that made him an equivalent of the Hulk, he had picked Zero up and rammed her through several walls consecutively, before locking her in a steel box. Even then, she was more upset out of embarrassment rather than actual physical hurt (how that was the case, Trixie would never know. They were some pretty _solid_ walls.), and the incident was never spoken of again.

That was five years ago.

Now, even though she was trying to hide it, a rebellious tear slipped down her cheek. Trixie really couldn't blame her – the poor girl had gotten herself _knocked up_ through some miracle or another, and she really didn't need another stress factor. Her life was messed up enough as it was.

'You slept with Burt?' she asked quietly, trying to keep the shock out of her tone. 'Zero, he _abused_ you -'

'I beat him up _too_ ,' Zero snapped, clenching her fists. 'And besides, we've just messed around. Only a couple of times over the last year.'

Trixie honestly didn't know what to say – that was an obvious lie. A "couple of times" probably meant once or twice a month in Zero's case. Yet somehow, she managed it anyway. 'Well, he's obviously never told anyone.'

'No shit.' Zero exhaled shakily. 'I don't think he cares, to be honest.'

'Do _you?'_

'No. I've never liked him. Still kind of hate him.'

'So . . . he's a person you hate, but still sleep with.'

'I don't _sleep_ with him. That means I'd be stupid enough to get caught.'

'Okay.' Trixie raised her hands in surrender. 'It's okay, really. Just, how many others have there been?'

'Only _one_. I'm not that kind of person, okay?'

'I _know_ , honey, I just – I'm trying to figure out who the father could be. Is Burt a possibility? Have you . . .?'

Zero lowered her gaze, almost in mortification. 'Remember when we had that fight, like six weeks ago? When I left for the day? I . . . I wasn't okay when I got back.'

'Oh.'

Suddenly it all made sense. 'Zero, this is a _really_ bad way to cope with your problems. You know that, right?'

Her blue eyes were unusually bright as she glared sullenly at Trixie's ankle. 'Yes, I _do_.'

She sighed quietly. 'Who's the other one?'

Another tear slipped down her cheek, and her pale eyebrows furrowed in anger.

'Zero?'

The tiniest of sobs choked up in her throat. Trixie sat down on the couch and pulled her into her side, resting her head atop Zero's white-blonde hair. Zero let out a shaky breath, almost in shame, and dug her nails into her palms. Then she whispered a name so quietly Trixie almost missed it.

Vin.

 _Vin._

Hearing that name almost made her cry with relief.

'Oh, he'll be thrilled,' she mumbled jokingly. 'If it's his, I mean. This'll be worse than those damn rabbits.'

'It's not a good thing,' Zero hissed through another sob. 'It's really _not_.'

Though Trixie was still really alarmed by the whole ordeal, she somehow found herself seeing the tiniest light in this situation. That alone was what spurred her push the conversation.

'Why? Of all people, he's the most understanding -'

'We got in a fight, and it's not – it's not – it's -'

'He'll come to his senses,' Trixie reassured her in a quiet voice. 'You know he will. He adores you, really. He's just . . . a boy. Give him time.'

Zero scoffed bitterly. 'Give him _time_. There's only so long before he's going to notice, Trixie. A baby bump is kinda hard to hide.'

'Honey, I mean just -' She cut off for a moment and thought, attempting to string together the wild array of thoughts in her head. 'Let him think about what happened. Between you two, I mean. Then, when you're ready, and _only_ then, tell him. Both he and Newton have the right to find out from _you_. Otherwise, the rumours are going to get there first.'

Zero exhaled in a slow, shaky breath, staring at Trixie's hand where it rested on her forearm. 'It's not entirely true,' she whispered finally. 'It wasn't . . .' She sighed, seemingly bracing herself for what she was about to say. 'Vin didn't get angry. I did.'

Trixie paused, letting her brain absorb this change in course, though she wasn't altogether surprised. 'Okay. So, what happened?'

For a long moment, she didn't reply. She scuffed the toe of her boot into the rug and stared at the wall clock. Her eyes followed the hand as it ticked around, and an angry flush began to rise in her cheeks. 'Did you know? That Macbeth erased us?'

This was the last thing Trixie had been expecting. _Beyond_ the last thing. The situation had felt so far behind them since she and Vin had last discussed it that she couldn't even remember the last time she'd thought about it. Zero felt her sudden - albeit small - intake of breath at the question and sat up straight, narrowing her eyes.

' _Why didn't you say anything?_ ' she hissed quietly. She combed an agitated hand through her hair, and it fell loosely around her head in waves. For a split-second Trixie was reminded of the girl Zero had been back _then_ , when those horrible things had happened. Then, needing something to do with her hands, the blonde tied her hair back up again, and the image was gone.

'It wasn't my story to tell,' Trixie replied simply, fighting the urge to back down in shame. This wasn't her fault, and she was hardly about to let it seem like it was. 'Vin wanted to protect us all from what happened. He was terrified; I mean, every trace of our lives vanished, just like _that_ – every trace of _you_. He might never have fixed things, and he wanted it never to happen again. That was best done by keeping us all out of the loop. He . . . he didn't want to hurt you, Zero. That wasn't what he meant by it.'

'Then how come you knew?' Zero asked sharply, shaking her head slightly. 'I mean, _come on_. You couldn't have figured it out without him saying anything. It's too frigging surreal.'

'He was having nightmares,' Trixie replied shortly. 'Trust me, he didn't want to talk about it.'

She paused, furiously wiping at her damp eyes. '. . . He really was alone, huh?'

It wasn't really a question.

'Yeah,' Trixie mumbled. 'Somehow I don't think orphan life is all that good for him.'

She exhaled heavily. 'I'll tell him,' she muttered. 'Just . . . give me time.'

'Alright,' Trixie replied softly. 'Be careful, though.'

Zero ignored her. 'Is Newton coming?'

'Yeah, he said he'd be up in a minute.'

She chewed her lip. 'You can tell him. He . . . he might be able to help.'

Trixie paused in surprise. Really? She had though Zero wouldn't want to say _anything_ for a few weeks, at least until everything had time to process. 'Are you sure?' she asked tentatively. 'I mean, this is _really_ big.'

'He might know how to break it to Vin, though.'

'That's true.'

'Break what?' a new voice asked, and Newton slid out of the ventilation shaft, stumbling a bit when he landed. Zero visibly tensed up, getting to her feet and crossing the room, before throwing herself down into the beanbag. Newton looked curiously between the two of them.

'Is everything okay?' he asked. 'Zero? Is it . . . _y'know -_ '

'Trix knows, Newton,' Zero said dully. 'You can say it out loud.'

Newton blinked in surprise. 'Alright. Is it – is it Burt? He didn't beat you up, did he?'

Zero snorted. 'You think I'd let that happen?' She shook her head, not meeting his eyes. 'Trixie, you can tell him.'

'Zero -'

' _Please._ I don't think I can.'

 _Please_. That word bounced around in Trixie's head, catching her off guard more than anything else.

'Okay,' she whispered, conceding. 'Newton, you'd better sit down.'

He shot her an odd look, but sat down at the computer chair regardless. 'Is everything okay? No one's hurt, are they? Should Vin be here?'

' _No_ ,' Zero blurted, now looking panicked. She took a moment to regain her composure, shaking her head. 'No, not yet.'

'I'm guessing you already know what's been going on with Burt,' Trixie started.

'Past tense,' Zero muttered. ' _Never again,_ you got it?'

'And I respect your decision here,' Trixie agreed. 'But, Newton, something's gone wrong. Well, not _wrong_ , exactly, but -'

' _Trixie_ ,' Newton said pointedly, now looking worried. 'Get to the point.'

Trixie swallowed anxiously. 'Uh, it seems that Vin and Zero have been a bit more in touch with their feelings than usual. _Stuff_ happened.'

It took a moment, but it finally seemed to click. Newton blinked. 'Oh.'

'Yeah. And . . . uh . . .' She inquiringly looked at Zero. 'This definitely happened around the same time, yeah?'

She nodded mutely.

'Okay. Well, this is where we need your help.'

Newton's brow was furrowed. 'This . . . this isn't what I think it is, is it?'

'Probably,' Trixie said softly. 'Um. Okay. Please be civil about this.'

'Who do you think I _am_?'

Alright then. Here goes nothing. 'Zero is . . . Zero's pregnant.'

He simply blinked. 'Okay.' He blinked again. 'Okay.' There was a pause, before the shock started to set in. 'This isn't a surprise to me – _why isn't this a surprise?_ ' Now wide-eyed, he whirled to face Zero. ' _Who's the father?_ '

She wouldn't meet his eyes. 'That's what we don't know, asshole.' Despite a feeble attempt at bravado, her voice shook.

He turned back to Trixie. 'And you're sure about this?'

'Positive.'

He swore. 'Okay. Okay, we can figure this out. _I_ can figure this out.' He scrambled to his feet and started poking through the gadgets Trixie had left sitting out, and typing a few commands into the main computer. 'We'll just need to run a simple DNA test . . .'

'Is it _that_ easy?' Zero asked, _finally_ looking up at him. Her eyes were red.

His worry softened a little when he saw the state she was in. 'Yeah, should be.' He pushed the chair back and crossed the room, squatting down in front of her. He took her hands and clasped them tightly. 'It's gonna be okay. I promise.'

She scowled, yanking her hands away. 'Bullshit.'

But Newton, bless him, had always been immune to Zero's moodiness. He grabbed her hands again. 'It _will._ And you're going to be a _great_ mom, no matter what happens.'

She looked at him dryly. 'In case it escaped your notice, I didn't have the best parental examples growing up.'

'No, I know,' he said seriously. 'I . . . I saw a lot of things when your memory was in Macbeth's machine all those years ago, when we were like, twelve.' At her horrified look, he continued. 'I _understand_ , Zero. And you're allowed to be worried. I'd be concerned if you weren't. But we're gonna get you through this. Aren't we, Trix?'

Trixie nodded seriously. 'Of _course_ we are; what kind of question is _that?_ '

Zero's expression was unreadable. 'Just . . . just do the DNA test. I'm not even sure if I'm gonna keep it.'

Trixie had honestly expected this to come up sooner – there was always an alternative, though she had never known Zero's opinion on it. In all honesty, there had been no occasion to discuss it. 'I – is that what you want to do?'

She looked away uncomfortably. 'If Burt's genes make it to another generation, we're all in trouble.' Despite the weak attempt at humour, her eyes were dark.

'And . . . if it's Vin's?' Trixie asked softly.

There was a moment of silence.

'I – I couldn't do that to him. You know what he's like, it's -'

'Zero,' Newton interrupted. 'You know this is _your_ decision?'

She exhaled heavily. Then, turning back to them, eyes bright with tears, she whispered, 'I couldn't do that. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I did.'

Trixie reached out and pushed her hair back from her face. 'Alright. Well, let's just get this test done, then we'll decide what to do next, okay?'

And so they waited.

* * *

 **1/11/17**


	12. Plan B

**_Title:_ Don't You Forget About Me**

 ** _Summary:_ ****As a whole, Pinkerton barely changed as its students grew older. Sadie Macbeth never abandoned her tyrannical ways, and the Invisible Network never found cause to disband. However, as Macbeth's plans for ultimate rule become increasingly more dangerous, it's only a matter of time before the consequences become deadly.**

 **Thus, the fog begins to settle.**

 **The past catches up with Vin, proving that one cannot hide from their problems forever. Soon he will have to face the music as a man, and not as the scared child he knows he is. Zero must become more invested in the future as a result of her own mistakes – the mistakes she continues to make, marring her life in the worst of ways, creating scars as deep as valleys. Trixie now struggles to keep the seams between the four of them from splitting apart, afraid to lose those she considers family to problems far greater than they can imagine.** **Newton only wants the best for those he loves, but sometimes opening those doorways means exposing oneself to the brutal reality of life. Life, which is meaningless without them.**

 **And so the final stretch begins. The clock is ticking, and it's only a matter of time before it's all over.**

 _ **Rating:**_ **T 13+.**

 _ **Chapter Summary:**_ **Macbeth's plan gets put into action. It doesn't bode well for anyone, to be honest.**

 _ **Chapter Word Count:**_ **3144**

* * *

 **I feel like I have to crank out a load of chapters at once so no one judges me for how they're laid out. It makes no sense, I know.**

* * *

 _ **11 – Plan B**_

Looking back on it, Vin should have suspected something was wrong the second the lights shut off. However, being the absolute moron that he was, he brushed it off as a blown fuse and continued down the hallway, thus being completely unprepared when the floor disappeared from under him.

' _Holy shit -'_ He yelped in pain as his chin hit the floor – though that was probably what saved him from disappearing altogether. That extra second, however painful, allowed him to fling his arms out wildly and scrabble for a grasp on the carpet. Grunting with exertion, he hauled himself out of the hole and rolled onto the floor, heart hammering.

' _What the -_ ' With an irritated growl, he turned on his watch mic. 'Vin to Trixie – something weird as fuck just happened and I need your help.'

There was a second of pause before Trixie replied.

' _I'm in Headquarters now; do I need to get a fix on your location?'_

'Probably,' he agreed. 'So get this, I'm just walking along, minding my own business, and the _goddamn floor falls out from under me_ – some sort of trapdoor -' As he spoke, he saw the door slide shut mechanically. He narrowed his eyes. 'It just closed now. Definitely some sort of engineering rig, and I'm not all that sure it was an accident.'

' _Alright, just give me a second – you're not hurt, are you?'_

'My face is going black and blue as we speak,' he replied dryly. 'But I'll live, I think.'

' _According to the scan, that trapdoor would have sent you straight to the basement. From what I can tell, the signal definitely came from Macbeth's office._ '

Vin sighed heavily. 'Of course.'

' _It's going to be a problem_ ,' she agreed. ' _Though it almost seems as – I'm_ busy, _Zero, give me a minute_ -'

Vin brought the watch closer to his ear as he tried to make sense of the quiet muttering coming from Trixie's end, but the only thing he could hear was his own name, and a few words like " _lost_ ", " _shut up_ ", and " _later, damnit"_. He frowned slightly. 'Everything okay up there?'

' _Yeah,'_ Trixie assured him, ' _just . . . just keep an eye out for any more traps, okay. Call Zero if something seems wrong – you may need backup. I'll keep looking on the security system.'_

He raised an eyebrow, even though he knew she couldn't see it. 'Is this Zero's idea, or yours?'

' _Mine, obviously. Keep out of trouble, Vin.'_

'You know I can't,' he replied. 'But I'll try. Thanks, Trix.'

He knelt down to inspect the trapdoor further. It was concealed remarkably well, as the shaggy carpet hid any definite outline it might have left. Vin wasn't sure if he'd even be able to _spot_ any more trapdoors. He ran his fingers along the surface, feeling for anything that may have been out of the ordinary. He found a slight indentation, and with a sense of satisfaction, pressed into it.

He _really_ should have done a better job of remembering where the trapdoor was.

' _ARGH -'_

This time he wasn't as lucky. He managed to grip onto the ledge with his fingertips, but the rest of his body was now hanging over a black abyss. He _really_ didn't want to fall all the way down to the basement.

' _TRIXIE!'_ he yelled, thankful that Newton had installed voice-activated sensors in his watch. It immediately dialled her. 'TRIXIE, _HELP!_ '

It wasn't like Vin was physically weak. Over the years, working in INK had been motivation enough to develop a level of body strength that made him a little larger than the average kid, and he had the muscles to show for it. But, in all fairness, it was _really freakin' hard_ to pull yourself up by your fingertips. Already his grip was slipping, though he managed to hold on for a few minutes, hoping and praying she had actually heard.

'Vin!'

Down the hall, Trixie had thrown open the door and ran to meet him, grabbing him by the wrists and pulling him up. He groaned in relief as he fell down on the carpet for the second time in five minutes, shooting the trapdoor a vicious glare. 'Thanks babe.'

'Don't call me that,' she groused, though she didn't seem to mind too much. 'You're lucky Zero didn't get here first.'

He shot her an inquisitive look, flexing his sore hands. 'Where is she?'

She sighed. 'She _was_ taking a shortcut, with that goddamn hero complex she has. But, I don't think it was actually a quicker route.' As though to prove her point, she pulled out her pen. 'Zero, it's alright, I've got him. I _told you_ it wasn't a shortcut.' She didn't get a reply. Vin gave her an apprehensive look, and she tried again. 'Zero?'

Vin tried his watch. 'Oi, Zero, you there?'

Nothing.

He dialled Newton instead. 'Hey man, can you get onto Zero?'

' _Give me a sec_ ,' he replied. Trixie looked uneasy, and they both exhaled heavily when Newton rung back to inform them that she wasn't replying to him either.

'You reckon she's okay?' Vin asked worriedly.

Trixie merely shrugged, getting to her feet. 'I don't know, but we should probably look around.'

Somehow Vin thought that was going to be a lot more difficult than it seemed.

* * *

They didn't find her. Even scanning the entire security database yielded no results.

'Do you think it was Macbeth?' Vin asked that night at dinner, twirling his spaghetti around his fork. Newton, who was looking around at the cafeteria as though it would provide answers, bit his lip.

'It's more than likely,' he admitted. 'But look: Burt, Hector and Tom are gone, too.'

'You sure they're not just late?'

Newton gave him a deadpan expression. 'Dinner started half an hour ago, Vin. Something's definitely going on.'

Trixie also cast a glance around the room. 'You missed Jake and Little Fred. They're not generally the sort to pass up dinner, wouldn't you think?'

Vin snorted in spite of himself. '"Little", my ass. Fred's a _giant,_ Trix.'

She gave a wry smile, though her gaze was calculating. 'What can I say, nicknames tend to stick. But _think about it._ ' She leaned forward so that their heads were close together, and lowered her voice. 'Have you noticed that everyone who's missing is fairly big in stature? Or, they at least have a decent amount of muscle mass?'

Vin raised his eyebrows in indignation. 'Hey, _I'm_ fairly well built.'

'And didn't a trapdoor appear beneath your feet this afternoon?'

Newton shot Vin a look. ' _Well built?_ You're so lanky that when Elizabeth first got here, she called you a blond David Tennant.'

'He's very fit, Newton,' Trixie replied. 'And strong. He counts as "well built".'

Vin, who been bristling at the first comment, looped an arm around Trixie's shoulders. 'Thanks, Trix. You're a _real_ friend.' He poked his tongue at Newton.

'No, I'm honest,' Trixie corrected, elbowing him in the ribs. 'Though you _do_ kind of remind me of David Tennant.'

'I'll take that as a compliment.'

'If you want.'

'Anyway,' Newton said, cutting in, 'what does she want the stronger kids for?' He was now fiddling absently with the salt shaker. 'It explains why Zero's missing, but what's the reason behind it?'

'Let's go back to Headquarters,' Trixie replied. The look in her eyes was rather odd. 'The sooner we find her, the better.'

* * *

Vin and Newton had scouted out the basement, but to no avail. When the returned to Trixie at Headquarters well after midnight, they had been unable to find anything.

'Whatever Macbeth is doing, she's hiding it really well,' Newton said as they gathered around the computer. Trixie, who had been looking at the basement's layout via the security system, rested her head tiredly in her hands.

'I don't understand,' she muttered. 'How can she have managed to _hide_ Zero? We _should_ be able to track her, but . . .' Vin, noting her exhaustion, wordlessly grabbed three cans of Red Bull out of the fridge and passed them around.

'This isn't going to end well,' Newton said. He took a swig, before continuing. 'Almost every time she's kidnapped people, someone's gotten brainwashed.'

Trixie paused at his words. 'You're right,' she agreed. Her eyes were now starting to light up. 'She's taken all of the bigger kids, yeah? What if she's trying to utilise their strength?'

'If she is, then we're screwed,' Vin replied bluntly. 'It's a bit hard to run an espionage mission when Burt's stuffed you in the garbage can.'

Trixie held up a hand to silence him. Her head was cocked, like she was trying very hard to hear something. She put a finger to her lips. Vin, now rather confused, looked around.

The main door, which had been bolted shut for three years now, burst off its hinges. The three of them instinctively dove for cover as splintered wood flew across the room, showering everything in a layer of dust and dried paint.

Zero stood in the doorway. Her frame seemed so much smaller without her leather jacket, which had clearly been abandoned in the last few hours, and she was wearing little but a cropped singlet top, sports leggings, and her combat boots. Her hair flowed loose, and _damn_ it was an attractive picture, but something was really wrong.

Her eyes were vacant.

'Shit,' Vin breathed. Zero kicked aside what remained of the door and strode into Headquarters with terrifying purpose. She immediately spotted them beneath the computer desk and sprung forward.

Vin wasn't naive enough to think she wouldn't get aggressive. If their presumptions were correct, and Macbeth had brainwashed her, then she would be the ideal soldier. She would do her job _very_ well. Pushing Newton and Trixie aside, Vin leapt up and met her halfway, tackling her onto the couch.

'Run!' he yelled over his shoulder. 'I'll hold her off!'

' _No!_ ' Trixie shot back. 'We've got to help her!'

Zero growled in a way that could only be described as _feral_ , and now Vin knew he was in trouble. He didn't want to hurt her – he knew he would never forgive himself if he did – but the situation was far too serious for him to let himself get beaten around. And he _was_ the bigger person in this fight – if he pinned her down for long enough, they might be able to find a cure.

Zero threw him off with so much force that he stumbled backward into the cupboard, eyes wide with shock. She leapt at him again, and he was thrown by how _catlike_ she seemed, that all he could do was force her to the ground.

' _Careful!_ ' Trixie shrieked. She ran forward and grabbed Zero's wrists, shooting Vin a wild look. ' _Be CAREFUL!'_

' _I'm trying!'_ he hissed. 'What are you so – _FUCK!_ '

They both fell backward when Zero kicked him sharply in the crotch and hurled Trixie aside as though she weighed nothing, leaping to her feet and snarling.

'Find INK,' she said in a low voice, stalking forward. ' _Find them.'_ She launched forward once more.

'Call me crazy,' Vin said as he caught her in an iron grip, 'but I _think_ I know what Macbeth's plan is here.' He quickly looped an arm around her knees and hefted her up so she was horizontal. Now with her weight cradled in his arms, his hands were free to restrain hers as she growled and kicked. 'Get a rope, Newton.'

Once her hands and feet were secured, Vin threw her down into the beanbag.

' _Careful!_ ' Trixie and Newton yelped, both slightly wide-eyed.

He gave them both an incredulous look. 'What the _hell_ are you both so worried about? She'll be fine.'

They all looked back at Zero, who was doing her best to wriggle out of the restraints. Knowing her, it wouldn't take very long before she managed it.

'I understand you're upset with her, Vin,' Trixie said, pulling a pillowcase out of the cupboard, 'but you _have_ to be gentle.'

He frowned, watching her fold it into a long strip and wrap it around Zero's head like a blindfold. 'Why do you think I'm upset?'

She shot him a look that said _don't play stupid_. 'We know what happened. Yes, she has clearly been a bit irrational, but it has to be fixed before it gets any worse.' Once she was satisfied that Zero definitely couldn't see, she looked at Newton. 'Help me out here.'

'On it.'

Vin was staring at her, wide-eyed. 'What do you _mean_ , you "know what happened"?'

'We know you slept together, dude,' Newton replied bluntly, 'and you both need to fix your shit so we can all get on with our lives.' He hefted up a device the size of a sewing machine and dumped it on the ground beside Zero's wriggling form (who was _spitting mad,_ by the way. Trixie stuffed a handful of tissues in her mouth to shut her up.) and began putting a load of wired sticky patches on her stomach.

Vin promptly collapsed on the couch, feeling faint. 'Well, shit,' he muttered. He pinched the bridge of his nose. 'What did she tell you?'

'That you told her about the time-travel thing,' Newton said. He paused long enough to glare at him. ' _Thanks_ for not telling me either, _jackass._ '

'I'm sorry -'

'Yeah, yeah, I don't hold grudges. Anyway, she's been having a long-term crisis and that's how we found out.' He squinted at the readings the machine was giving him.

'Everything okay?' Trixie asked tentatively.

'Yeah,' he replied. 'Looks like Macbeth doesn't know about it.'

Her face relaxed in relief. 'Good.'

'Doesn't know about what?' Vin asked, getting up to have a look.

Newton hurriedly shut the machine off. 'Lactose intolerance!' he told him with a grin that was _way too happy._

Vin glared suspiciously at him. 'What's going on?' he asked.

Trixie jumped up to intervene. 'It's a condition,' she told him. 'To do with girl stuff, and periods, and -'

Vin stuffed his fingers in his ears. 'I did _not_ need to know that.'

She responded with a smug expression. 'You shouldn't have asked, then.'

He rolled his eyes, and pretended not to notice the look of relief the two of them exchanged. If they didn't want to tell him the truth, fine. He supposed he deserved _that much_. 'Well, what are we going to do about this brainwashing thing?'

'We're going to have to find out how she did it,' Newton said. 'If it was by subliminal messaging, that'll be easy to fix. If not, well . . .'

Vin tapped his fingers on his thigh, chewing the inside of his cheek as he watched Zero struggle under Trixie's weight. 'If Macbeth's sent everyone to look for us, the others can't be far behind. Zero only had that advantage because she knew who we were.'

Newton looked back at the splintered door. 'Well, I'm gonna have to fix that before it happens, then.'

'Just pinch the door from the Drama closet,' Vin told him. 'No one will notice.'

'That's a good idea, actually,' he agreed, getting to his feet. He glanced down at Zero. 'Will you two be able to manage her on your own?'

Vin laced his fingers. ' _Weeeell,_ if I had permission to knock her out . . .' He trailed off, looking meaningfully at the other two.

Trixie immediately shook her head. 'That's not the best option. We'll just have to do it the hard way.'

So, five minutes later, when Newton had left on his quest to find a new door, Vin was struggling to force Zero to sit still while Trixie jammed some sort of helmet-like contraption on her head.

 _Of ALL the days Mr Soper has to be away at a business meeting, it had to be today, didn't it?_ Vin thought bitterly. He then voiced that little titbit of irony out loud.

'Macbeth always picks the worst days to experiment,' Trixie agreed. 'But, we'll do what we must. Alright, now -' She cut off, typing a command into the machine. 'Now, all I've got to do is remove the information in her brain that is telling Zero to go feral. Once that's deal with she should be fine. Well, no worse than usual, anyway.'

Vin snorted, though it turned into a yelp when he was on the receiving end of a particularly vicious headbutt. ' _Argh_ , she's got a hard skull.' He used his forearm to push Zero back into the beanbag, effectively restraining her whilst keeping a safe distance. 'Have you noticed that everything seems very animalistic about it all?'

'I have,' Trixie replied as she worked. 'And it's certainly confirming my suspicions that Macbeth's recycling old methods.'

'Oh yeah, I remember,' he noted as familiarity hit him. 'It's kinda like that thing with the lions and the mule.'

'Zebra, you mean.'

'Like she can tell the difference.'

This drew a laugh from her, however small. 'That's true.' She then froze abruptly, eyes wide. 'Someone's coming.'

Vin then realised he could hear several sets of footsteps quickly approaching. 'Go through the chest passageway,' he ordered. 'You take the machine; I've got Zero.' He then pulled the headset off and haphazardly bundled its wiring together, shoving it at Trixie. 'Go!'

She didn't hesitate. Within seconds she had shut down the computers, dragged the nearest cupboard to block the doorway, and opened the chest lid. 'You go first,' she told him, pulling out her pen. 'I'll close the entrance.'

So, he scooped Zero up and threw her over his shoulder like she was nothing more than a sack of potatoes, holding her firmly so that she struggled as little as possible. He then dropped down into the tunnel while Trixie called Newton, telling him to meet them at Rendezvous Point A – a small clearing of trees in the forest east of Mr Soper's classroom. Just as the lid closed, they heard a muffled crash, followed by snarling. Vin didn't want to think about who was up there.

'What do we do?' he whispered, looking anxiously at Trixie.

She shook her head. 'I don't know,' she replied in a low voice. She scowled at Zero, who was still growling despite the massive wad of tissues shoved in her mouth. 'Can you _shut her up?_ '

He huffed. 'Hey, if you want to carry her, be my guest.'

'I'll pass.' Her voice was tight, and she strode ahead of him, using the flashlight on her phone so that they could see. 'Hopefully Newton will know what to do.'

'Hopefully,' Vin echoed, but he couldn't help the little feeling of doubt in the back of his mind.

He hated these missions. He had never been able to get over the fear of them being his last.

* * *

 **4/11/17**


	13. I Bet You'd Run Away One Day

**_Title:_ Don't You Forget About Me**

 ** _Summary:_ ****As a whole, Pinkerton barely changed as its students grew older. Sadie Macbeth never abandoned her tyrannical ways, and the Invisible Network never found cause to disband. However, as Macbeth's plans for ultimate rule become increasingly more dangerous, it's only a matter of time before the consequences become deadly.**

 **Thus, the fog begins to settle.**

 **The past catches up with Vin, proving that one cannot hide from their problems forever. Soon he will have to face the music as a man, and not as the scared child he knows he is. Zero must become more invested in the future as a result of her own mistakes – the mistakes she continues to make, marring her life in the worst of ways, creating scars as deep as valleys. Trixie now struggles to keep the seams between the four of them from splitting apart, afraid to lose those she considers family to problems far greater than they can imagine.** **Newton only wants the best for those he loves, but sometimes opening those doorways means exposing oneself to the brutal reality of life. Life, which is meaningless without them.**

 **And so the final stretch begins. The clock is ticking, and it's only a matter of time before it's all over.**

 _ **Rating:**_ **T 13+.**

 _ **Chapter Summary:**_ **Zero's life couldn't possibly get any worse, right? Ha, _nope._**

 _ **Chapter Word Count:**_ **2682**

* * *

 **I will point out there is a possible trigger warning in this chapter (hell, what chapter _isn't_ a shitfest waiting to happen, huh?) so if you want to avoid that, keep an eye out for the stylised stuff in italics. You'll know it when you see it, trust me.**

* * *

 **Title comes from Aurora Aksnes "Puppet".**

* * *

 _ **12 – I Bet You'd Run Away One Day If You Could Choose To Leave Or Stay**_

When Zero regained consciousness, she was bound, gagged, and hanging upside down from a tree branch in the dark. Not the best combination, in all honesty.

Immediately on her guard, she started to squirm, eyes looking around wildly as she tried to work out what the hell was going on. A familiar voice then broke through her thoughts.

'Hey, hey, it's alright,' Vin said, suddenly appearing in front of her through the darkness. He reached out and carefully took her face between his hands. 'Are – are you . . . _okay?_ '

 _What the hell?_

She did her damned best to convey her confusion though her scowl. Vin pulled the wad of material out of her mouth, and she coughed, hating the dry sensation.

' _What the fuck is going on?_ ' she asked in a low voice, levelling him with her gaze. Oddly enough, it didn't make him cower. Instead, he arched an eyebrow, turning to Newton, who was now in her field of vision.

'I just managed to wake your mind up,' Newton told her, showing that he was holding a bowl of smouldering twigs. 'Remember the monks' method?'

'What, now?'

'I used incense,' he clarified. 'It broke through the trance that was controlling you.'

Her gut lurched at that. ' _What happened?_ '

Newton and Vin exchanged a look.

'Cut her down,' Vin muttered, and finally withdrew his hands. When the rope broke, he readily caught her and lowered her to the ground. After untying her, he wrapped an arm around her waist and lifted her back to her feet. 'Your legs might not work properly,' he said apologetically. 'And your knees might hurt a little; I kinda had to cripple you.'

Zero latched onto his shoulder as she staggered, yelping in surprise as her legs gave out from under her. 'Argh, what did you _do?_ '

'To be fair, you _were_ trying to kill me,' he replied dryly, tightening his grip on her waist. The obvious evasion irked her a little, and she pointedly tried to ignore how her skin seemed to burn beneath his touch.

She looked up at him, confused. 'Wait, what happened to me?'

'Brainwashing,' he replied tightly, voice clipped and short. He didn't meet her gaze. 'Macbeth's taken all of the stronger kids and turned them into animalistic soldiers. Including you.'

She swallowed. ' _Oh_.' If he noticed her grip tighten on his shoulder, he didn't comment. 'Did I – am I -'

'You're fine, now,' he replied, eventually meeting her gaze and softening slightly. 'You didn't hurt anyone.' He snorted slightly in an attempt at humour. 'Well, that we know of, anyway.'

 _Didn't hurt anyone –_

And then, the most god-awful thought crossed her mind.

 _Oh no._

'Newton _,'_ she whispered, gaze snapping up to meet his. Her insides felt like they were flooding with ice, and her free hand immediately strayed to her midriff. _'Newton_ -'

He immediately knew what was worrying her. 'It's okay,' he cut in, the look in his eyes assuring. 'Trix and I checked, and everything's fine. We're pretty sure Macbeth doesn't know.'

 _I don't care if she doesn't know, I care that -_

Vin frowned at him, oblivious to Zero's panic. 'Doesn't know what? _'_

'The _thing I told you about_ , Vin,' Trixie cut in, appearing through the trees. She brushed her hands on her shorts, dusting them off. 'I had a look around; they don't know where we are. I'd say we have an hour at least.'

If possible, Zero's stomach dropped further. ' _You told him?_ ' she hissed, looking wildly at Trixie. 'You _told him?_ '

Vin winced, though his mouth twitched with something akin to hurt. 'Something to do with periods? Apparently?'

That she hadn't been expecting. ' _What?_ '

He shrugged one shoulder, not meeting her gaze. 'That's what Trixie said.'

Zero shot Trixie a look, and she folded her arms defensively. 'I wasn't lying, technically.'

' _Zero_ ,' Vin said softly. His tone alone was enough to make her want to hide under a rock. It wasn't angry, it was just . . . worried. And that was _so_ much worse. 'What's going on?'

This was happening.

 _This was happening_.

She looked over at Newton, who wrung his hands awkwardly. 'Uh, take all the time you need. We'll wait here.' Trixie murmured in agreement, and the two of them left rather quickly.

Vin gently squeezed her waist. 'Let's sit down.'

Zero reluctantly complied, wincing as her knees objected. Once they were both resting with their backs against the tree, Zero folded her arms tightly over her chest, buzzing with nerves. She chewed her lip, tension obvious in the way she held herself. Vin didn't push to begin the conversation.

'I, uh . . . I fucked up,' she started weakly. 'Misplaced the damn pill packet, so I didn't remember to take them . . .'

'Take what?' he asked softly, leaning forward a little. His gaze was near inscrutable, but even in the shrouded darkness he looked freaking gorgeous. Her stomach flipped uncomfortably.

And then, in that moment, she had never felt weaker.

'Please don't leave me.'

His brow furrowed. ' _Leave you?_ Why would I – that's the _last_ thing I'd ever . . .' He trailed off, before shrugging wordlessly. 'You're my only family. Like I'd give _that_ up.'

'You don't _understand -'_ She broke off and grabbed one of his hands, squeezing tightly. She cursed, realising that tears were threatening to make an appearance and exhaled sharply through her teeth, trying to regain some sense of decorum. Goddamn hormones. ' _Fuck._ '

'Are _you_ okay?' he pressed softly, brushing a lock of hair out of her face. 'Zero, I don't care what's happened; I know you're pissed off at me, but please -'

'I'm _not_ pissed off at you,' she muttered, hiccupping unsteadily.

'Then why -?'

'I'm mad at _myself_ , jackass, but that's not the point.'

He huffed slightly, screwing up his brows in a way that was absolutely _ridiculous._ He spread his hands a little. 'Then what have we been _doing_ for like, the last six weeks?'

'Thirty-six days,' she corrected automatically, before wincing when she realised how desperate that sounded.

He exhaled slowly. 'Thirty-seven, actually.' He laughed quietly, but there was no humour in it. 'You were M.I.A. for twelve hours. It's two in the morning.'

'But who's counting, huh?' she mumbled sarcastically.

He snorted. 'Yeah.'

She looked up at him, trying to swallow the lump in her throat that refused to budge. 'I . . . I'm . . .'

The words wouldn't come out. She knew she needed to say it, and she would never forgive herself if she didn't, but . . .

 _Just say it, goddamnit, it's not that hard._

'I'm -'

 _I'm so fucking sorry, can't you see that?_

She exhaled heavily, putting her head in her hands.

 _I miss you_.

She felt the careful brush of fingertips along her shoulders, but she didn't respond as he gently pulled her into his side, resting his cheek on her forehead.

'I know,' he whispered. 'I know.' There was a beat of silence before he added, even quieter, 'I'm sorry, too. I shouldn't have hidden things from you.'

The lump didn't budge, but the churning in her gut subsided a little. 'Okay,' she whispered.

And then she heard something that didn't sound quite right. Suddenly on high-alert, she scanned the darkness before them, while trying not to tip Vin off to her suspicions. It sounded like a faint rustle, somewhere up in the trees, like . . .

Like something was about to drop down on top of them.

'We've gotta go,' she hissed quietly. 'Something's wrong.'

Vin lifted his head, frowning slightly. 'What?'

'Go, take Trix and Newton. I'll hold them off.'

'Hold _who_ off?'

' _Go._ ' She shoved him forward sharply, forcing him to stumble to his feet, and rolled out of the way just as something hit the ground with a loud _thump_ , right where they had been sitting.

'Oh shit,' Vin breathed.

'Feral is _not_ a good look on him,' she agreed, watching Hector warily as he growled and scrabbled to his feet, pupils eerily large. He was followed shortly by Little Fred. ' _Go_ , Vin.'

'Zero -'

The wind was knocked out of her before Vin could finish his sentence. She was hit sharply in the back by something big and bulky, and she slammed straight into the tree with a yelp of pain.

It was second nature for her to get back up as quickly as possible despite her aching limbs, as staying down meant submission. When she spun around, she was greeted with an all-too-familiar fist. Fighting however, was the easy bit. What she struggled with was resisting the urge to tear Burt from _limb to fucking limb_.

She settled with breaking his nose.

'Don't. You. _Dare._ Touch. Me. _Ever. AGAIN.'_

She punctuated each word with a blow; either a slam to the ribs, a knee to the crotch, or an uppercut across the face – regardless, it was enough to enrage him past the point of ordinary retaliation. He knocked her sharply off balance with his foot, grabbing her trapezius in an iron grip, right by her throat. The sudden application of stabbing pressure was enough to make her buckle sideways under the pain, momentarily blinded with shock as she reflexively tried to get away from it. She knew a million different ways to get out of holds like these, but for some reason her mind was hazy and sluggish, only able to feel something hideously akin to fear.

This was _fear_.

While she was wrapped up in her confusion, Burt knocked her knees out from under her and slammed her into the ground, winding her momentarily. She was vaguely aware of shouting, and noises, but she couldn't really think –

The way he gripped that muscle was _all too familiar,_ and he _knew_ it was some sort of pressure point . . .

It was just like when her dad did it. _He_ knew that point, too.

And then suddenly, through flashes of ghostly memory she was brought back to _that night,_ though she had done her best to bottle it away long ago –

Screaming; shouting; like shards of glass -

 _no no dad please no_

Pain. So much pain.

 _are you actually BEGGING me bitch_

 _dad don't please_

 _you're fucking WEAK_

It wasn't just fighting; this was something different, something _far worse_ in Zero's eyes. Fighting, she could deal with. This . . . this scared her beyond comprehension.

 _no dad PLEASE_

It hurt _so bad_ –

 _it's what you deserve you little SLUT_

'. . . _Zero!_ I think . . . they're knocked out cold . . . use the incense, Newton . . .'

 _why would you do this to me why why why_

Her fingertips were tingling.

 _be quiet stop the fucking crying_

'. . . ZERO! C'mon, breathe . . . it's me, it's just me . . . you hear me?'

 _you did this to mum too that's why she left_

'. . . looks like . . . panic attack? . . . don't know what else . . .'

 _looks like i've finally broken you kid_

And then she was suddenly aware of something warm touching her face; she was still too disorientated to pinpoint what exactly, but something about it felt _right_ , grounding her for half a second. She _needed_ that half second.

'. . . you gotta listen, okay? C'mon, babe, can you look at me? _Breathe,_ that's it, _in, out, in, and out . . .'_

She fumbled blindly, reaching out for something – _anything_ – familiar. Her fingers brushed over that steel ring _he_ always wore on his first finger and she paused momentarily, head spinning.

So it was _Vin_ touching her face, _Vin_ was okay. She curled her hand around his finger, the cool band of metal reminding her of the now –

'C'mon, keep breathing. In, out, in, out . . .'

She might have let out a choked sob, but she wasn't too sure, as she was too preoccupied with holding his hand in a death grip. Gradually, her breathing began to steady, and she became dimly aware of other voice aside from Vin's.

'. . . what do you think caused it?'

'I dunno, she was holding up fine until Burt grabbed her funny.'

'. . . d'you think . . . ?'

'Shh -'

It was all hazy, and her heart was still fluttering unnervingly in her chest, like a flimsy aluminium spring winding tighter and tighter –

. . . she hadn't thought about it for _so long . . ._ it had seemed like a ghost, but now it was a demon . . .

And then –

 _And then –_

She crumpled under the nauseating weight, and simply _cried._

* * *

'We gotta go.' Vin looked up from where he had been cradling Zero's head in his lap, meeting Newton's tentative gaze. 'Is there any way you can rig up that incense to go through the ventilation system? That'd be the quickest way to deal with all this.' His gaze flickered to where they had dumped Burt, Hector and Fred's unconscious bodies.

'Yeah, definitely,' he replied immediately. 'I'll need your help though – we should probably go back to Headquarters. If we barricade the door, it should give us enough time. And while we're at it, we ought to teach Macbeth a bit of a lesson.'

'Then we better move quickly,' Trixie said. She knelt down beside Zero, brushing her sweaty hair back with careful fingers. The latter was still breathing shakily, eyes screwed shut as tears slipped down her cheeks. 'Can you carry her again?' she added, glancing at Vin.

He waved her off. 'Yeah, yeah, it's fine, it's just . . .' He scooped up Zero's limp form, cradling her to his chest, before speaking again. 'D'you . . .' He swallowed heavily. 'D'you reckon it had something to do with . . . y'know, her dad?'

He spoke quietly, trusting that Zero was so out of it she wouldn't hear, while directing the question at Trixie. Trixie simply looked at him sadly, the look in her eyes saying it all.

 _I wouldn't doubt it._

'We don't know what happened, though,' Newton said softly. 'We can't just make assumptions -'

Vin shot him a withering look. 'I think it's pretty fucking obvious what happened.'

'But she hasn't _said anything_ until now -'

'For God's sake, she's _Zero_ , man!' He kept his voice low, but conveyed his frustration in a hissed whisper. 'She won't tell anyone _jackshit_ about her life.'

'Be quiet, both of you,' Trixie muttered, shooting them a sharp glance. 'We need to _go. Now._ '

Vin exhaled heavily, but followed as she carefully picked her way back out of the forest and back toward the school.

The next few hours were a bit of a blur. It took next to no time for Newton to fumigate the entire building with a far more condensed form of the incense while Vin went around doing a bit of damage control. This essentially entailed installing a new door, dragging the unconscious bodies out of the forest and back to their respective bedrooms, and then enthusiastically bombing Macbeth with Newton's favoured "memory gas", thus wiping the last forty-eight hours from her mind.

It was far too simple a solution to such a big problem, and he really didn't like that fact, though Trixie assured him multiple times it was all they could really do. The night as a whole had been revoltingly taxing, and thereafter it took great effort on all their parts to stay awake. Save for Zero, of course, who had been left on the beanbag to sleep off the earlier trauma. So, it wasn't entirely surprising that the other three ended up joining her, an exhausted tangle of bodies that never seemed to realise that they didn't _deserve_ the awful things they went through on a daily basis, let alone their lives as a whole.

It was far too cruel.

* * *

 **4/12/17**


	14. If You Were A King Up There

**_Title:_ Don't You Forget About Me**

 ** _Summary:_ ****As a whole, Pinkerton barely changed as its students grew older. Sadie Macbeth never abandoned her tyrannical ways, and the Invisible Network never found cause to disband. However, as Macbeth's plans for ultimate rule become increasingly more dangerous, it's only a matter of time before the consequences become deadly.**

 **Thus, the fog begins to settle.**

 **The past catches up with Vin, proving that one cannot hide from their problems forever. Soon he will have to face the music as a man, and not as the scared child he knows he is. Zero must become more invested in the future as a result of her own mistakes – the mistakes she continues to make, marring her life in the worst of ways, creating scars as deep as valleys. Trixie now struggles to keep the seams between the four of them from splitting apart, afraid to lose those she considers family to problems far greater than they can imagine.** **Newton only wants the best for those he loves, but sometimes opening those doorways means exposing oneself to the brutal reality of life. Life, which is meaningless without them.**

 **And so the final stretch begins. The clock is ticking, and it's only a matter of time before it's all over.**

 _ **Rating:**_ **T 13+.**

 _ **Chapter Summary:**_ **Things take a further turn for the worse. Well, there is a brief moment of happiness for Vin, before his life is ripped at the seams.**

 _ **Chapter Word Count:**_ **3714**

* * *

 **Shit just keeps going south. Sorry. I like drama.**

* * *

 **Title comes from Dido's "Hunter".**

 _ **13 – If You Were a King Up There on Your Throne**_

'What the _fuck._ '

Liz ground her teeth and turned away from Macbeth's unconscious body slumped in her office chair, utterly perplexed.

So, it seemed _that_ plan had failed.

' _Fuck_ ,' she hissed again, resisting the urge to punch something. Those damn kids cleared their tracks well, and though she knew what had just happened, she couldn't do anything about it.

How did they shut everything down so _quickly?_ It had been, what, forty-eight hours? How can four kids take down like, _twelve_ brainwashed soldiers? _How?_

She'd been underestimating them, it seemed.

She scratched the back of her neck, glaring back at Macbeth for a short moment. Reattempting the experiment would be useless – INK had managed to incapacitate the woman for the time being, and if Liz's suspicions were correct, her mind would be wiped of the incident. Liz would be on her own if she wanted to try again, and she honestly didn't like her odds. How did Sadie deal with the failure?

Actually, scratch that, Liz didn't want to know. Her only business was to expose this espionage group, and thus graduate with a senior certificate. Anything else that happened in between was completely irrelevant. When it was all over, she could take off into the city and leave it all behind.

She'd never been one to be influenced by her conscience, anyway.

She turned to leave the room, before pausing at the doorway as a thought occurred to her.

 _Maybe . . ._

Perhaps she subconsciously hadn't wanted this plan to work. After all, it was _sick_ – slavery, submission, brainwashing – Liz might not have been one to _listen_ her conscience, but she perfectly well knew right from wrong. And everything she was doing at the moment was _wrong_. Hell, all the trouble it was going to cause Ginger if she exposed him . . . and his friends . . .

He'd never forgive her.

 _No one_ could forgive her when she was through with all this.

She sighed heavily, shaking her head to rid herself of the thought. She _knew_ what she was getting into when she accepted the proposition, she just hadn't expected to become, well, attached to anyone. Not Ginger, and _certainly_ not –

Trixie.

Clenching her fists, Liz finally forced herself to leave the room, shoving all thoughts of beautiful smiles, wit, and liveliness deep down where they wouldn't plague her.

(It didn't work.)

* * *

When Trixie finally stirred, groggy and disorientated, it took her a long moment to comprehend why she was sleeping amidst a pile of limbs, and another to work out who they belonged to.

Though she tried to keep her movements as small as possible, Zero was quickly roused and rolled over with a long-suffering groan, which in turn woke both of the boys. After that things got a bit confusing. After finally managing to extract herself from the pile, Trixie staggered to her feet and stretched, yawning as her back let out a series of satisfying pops and cracks.

'Man, I hate Mondays,' Vin grumbled, taking the opportunity to kick Newton in the stomach. 'Get up, dipshit. Your alarm clock's not gonna do it for you.'

'Fuck off,' Newton replied, not opening his eyes. 'I'll sleep if I wanna.'

'Remind me why we choose to sleep in a dog pile when we stay up here?' Vin muttered to Trixie as he scratched the back of his neck.

She shrugged absently. 'Basic survival instincts? I don't know. Zero - ?' She cut off as Zero staggered abruptly to her feet, face oddly flushed considering the cool weather. She looked around wildly for a minute, letting out a strangled whine of distress, before nearly _sprinting_ to the waste-basket in the corner of the room and throwing up.

The reaction that got was fairly obvious.

After Vin's predictable ' _holy shit!'_ , Trixie winced and crossed the room to help her, pulling her hair back from her face.

'It's alright, just let it all out,' she said soothingly, patting her on the back. She was pretty sure she heard her hiss ' _piss off_ ,' but chose to ignore it, murmuring reassurances whether she wanted them or not. 'Throwing up is normal, this'll just probably be a bad day. You'll be alright.'

' _Piss off_.'

'Oh, shut up and finish puking, would you?'

'Bitch.'

'Cow.'

'Not that isn't a . . . _touching_ moment of sisterly affection,' Newton interrupted, tapping Trixie on the shoulder, 'but I think you've . . . forgotten something.'

Vin appeared in front of them, face more than a little horrified. He handed Zero a box of tissues, before exploding, ' _What do you MEAN "this is normal"? She is literally throwing her guts up!'_

Oh.

Right.

'Vin, this isn't -' Trixie began feebly, but he cut her off with a sharp glare.

'Alright, I know you lot have been leaving me out of the loop here, but I've absolutely _had it_. Tell me _what's going on_.'

'Somehow I don't think you want to know,' Newton quipped. Trixie elbowed him sharply and he yelped, before adding, 'But y'know, I probably wouldn't be the best judge of that.'  
'Vin, it's very complicated,' she added softly. 'We don't know anything for certain yet, and Newton's still trying to analyse the results -'

'I just want to know _what's going on_ ,' Vin pleaded. He actually looked pretty distressed – though, Zero was still throwing up, so that was probably why.

Newton clicked his fingers. 'Hey, now that I think about it, the computer should have finished the, uh, the DNA stuff. Maybe I should -'

' _Now?_ ' Trixie cried in frustration. 'Of _all_ times, it's finished _now?_ '

'Well, I'm hoping so -'

'Can you all please _shut up?_ ' Zero growled, finally straightening up and wiping her mouth. 'I've had _enough_ , alright? I'm just gonna tell him. I'm sick of hiding this, and I won't be able to for much longer anyway.'

'Zero -'

' _No_ , Trix. Vin, sit down. Newton . . . do whatever the hell it was you were gonna do.'

Newton nodded mutely before skittering off to the computer, and Trixie crossed her arms, fuming. 'D'you want us to leave, or -?'

'If you leave, I will kill you,' she replied simply. Though she seemed fairly nonchalant about this, her eyes were particularly wild, and Trixie knew she was starting to panic internally.

Trixie sat down on the beanbag. 'Alright. We won't go, so just . . . do your thing, I guess.'

Vin looked between the two of them, face uncertain. After a moment he sunk weakly down beside her, gesturing vaguely with his hands. 'I, uh, well . . .?

Zero took one look at him and seemed to falter. Trixie could have sworn she saw something akin to fear flicker across her face, but it was gone as soon as it came, replaced with her usual stony resolution.

'I'm gonna have to punch someone to regain my dignity,' she muttered bitterly, absently threading a hand through her hair. The white-blonde strands fell in her eyes, and she seemed so exasperated that she didn't bother to fix it. She then parked herself on the floor before the two of them, face still curtained by hair.

In an effort to lighten the mood somewhat, Trixie flicked a hairband at her.

Zero yelped in indignation when it bounced off her face, but the tense lines around her eyes and mouth loosened as she poked her tongue out in retaliation, before reluctantly pulling everything back into a braid.

Vin arched an eyebrow. 'What dignity?' he asked jokingly. 'What, has everyone found out that you're secretly a softy?'

Zero snorted. 'Fuck off.'

Trixie watched the interaction between the two of them, noticing how Vin was subtly relieving her tension before the serious conversation had to start. She had no idea if Zero noticed it or not; in all honesty, she had the social skills of a drunk sloth that had been sheltered beneath a metaphorical rock for its entire lifespan, then had been dropped off a cliff in to the jaws of a waiting alligator.

Granted, it was a fairly crude example, and not one she would dare voice out loud, but it was probably very true. There were a number of things Trixie had learnt about her over the years, such as not to make her choose an ice-cream flavour on the spot, that all shop assistants needed to be avoided like the plague, that animals were useless and annoying unless they were cats that hated people almost as much as she did, and that anyone wearing a Santa suit needed to be disposed of _immediately,_ preferably via the nearest trash receptacle.

Those were only a _few_ of the quirks Trixie had witnessed in her lifetime.

Zero pretended to look thoughtful, the corner of her mouth tugging upward in a grin. 'Is there anyone who would willingly let themselves get smacked around for the greater good?'

'Probably many,' Vin informed her, 'though I doubt anyone would consider your purpose the "greater good".'

'You're an asshole.'

He smirked at her. 'Whatever helps you sleep at night, babe.'

'Repeat: _You're an asshole_.'

Trixie felt it was time to flick another hairband, but only because the conversation was derailing too far away from what was supposed to be happening. Once again Zero yelped when it hit her in the eye, but before she could respond Newton let out a yell from the computer.

' _Holy shit!_ ' he cried, nearly falling off the swivel-chair. 'I've got it! I-I've got it!'

Trixie's stomach immediately performed a gymnastics routine, and Zero went ashen-faced. 'Do I want to know?' she asked carefully, not meeting his gaze.

'Yes you do!' he announced, face brighter than Times' Square. 'Everything is a-o- _kay!_ '

Trixie blinked, trying to process the new titbit of information this implied. 'You mean -'

' _Uh huh!_ ' Honestly, from the outside it would have looked like Newton was the primary one involved here, he was that delighted. Though, considering what the alternative could have been, his happiness was understandable. He picked up the nearest pen and pegged it at Vin's head, beaming widely. 'Vin, you _dog!_ '

'What?' Vin asked, looking around at the other three confusedly. 'Hey, what did I do?'

'Literally _everything!_ ' Newton was openly crowing now, the biggest shit-eating grin plastered across his face. 'And I think I'm freaking out. Okay, I'm freaking out.'

'Very smooth,' Trixie deadpanned. 'Will you let them talk, now?'

Newton bounced a little on the chair, trying (and failing) to reel in his grin. 'Alright, alright, I'm good, do your thing.'

'Hang on a second.' Vin held up a hand, brow furrowed. The smirk had faded from his face, replaced with something slightly suspicious. He looked over at Zero who, despite the good news, looked like she was about to throw up again. 'I've done something that's connected to you,' he stated, as though telling himself was cementing it in his mind. 'Something that Newton thinks is good, whatever it is. Meanwhile you're sick, for reasons Trixie won't explain. "Something to do with periods", she says.' He trailed off, clearly thinking hard. If possible, Zero went slightly greener, seemingly unable to speak. 'She wouldn't tell me what, 'cause it's probably really gross or something, but " _something to do with periods_ ".' He repeated it a few times to himself, as though it would magically reveal the answer. 'And Newton said "Vin, you _dog_ ," in the way that generally implies . . .' He trailed off into inaudible muttering. '. . . something where I did "literally everything" . . . _periods_ . . . implications . . . "literally ev –" _holy shit_.'

Zero made a choked noise and staggered to her feet, leaving through the chest passageway before anyone could stop her. Vin was frozen where he sat, mouth agape and eyes wide. His brain seemed to have short-circuited once he realised what was going on, and his hands trembled.

'Oh my God,' he breathed. ' _Oh my God._ '

'Please don't freak out,' Trixie begged.

' _Freakingout? I-I'mnotfreakingoutI'mverycalmI'msupercalminfactsooooooooorelaxedImeanit'snotlikeIjustfoundoutI'mgoingtobea -'_

'Vin, _breathe!'_

He drew in a great gasp, limbs prone and eyes _huge_.

'I'm not ready for this responsibility,' he said quickly. 'Oh my God, I'll be useless. What the – _She's only sixteen, for Christ's sake!_ ' He paused. 'And _I'm_ only _seventeen!_ I'm already a failure, damnit!'

'Okay, first of all,' Newton said sharply, interrupting Vin's ramblings by putting a hand over his mouth. 'First of all, you haven't run away yet. That already makes you better than Zero's mom. Second, you haven't thrown punches or gone into a violent rage. That makes you better than her dad. And third, your immediate thought wasn't of an orphanage, so you're also better than your own parents. So far you're doing pretty well.'

Vin shook his head, mouthing wordlessly until he choked. 'Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my _. . . God.'_ He paused, realisation dawning over his face, and then the corners of his open mouth tugged upward slightly. ' _Holy shit, man_. I – I'm gonna be a -' He cut off, making an indistinguishable noise. ' _Wow._ ' A short whoop of laughter escaped him, and he clapped his hands over his mouth. 'Trix, Newton, I'm gonna have a _family!_ A real family!'

'I'm offended,' Newton quipped dryly.

'Oh, _you know what I mean_. I – I – _oh my God!'_

'Do you think he knows how to say anything else?' Trixie muttered to Newton out of the corner of her mouth. Despite the calm attitude she was displaying, she couldn't help the feeling of relief that spread though her at how this was being handled.

Vin heard, and wrinkled his nose at her. 'Oh, shut up. I'm gonna – I've gotta find Zero.' He scrambled to his feet, eyes wide. 'Oh shit, she's been freaking out, hasn't she?'

'Just a bit.'

'Oh man – I'll talk to you guys later, alright?' He ran to the chest passageway, pausing only to whoop again. 'A _baby!_ Oh my - I've gotta – see ya!'

The trunk lid closed with a snap behind him. Trixie turned to Newton.

'So it's definitely his, then?'

Newton squinted at her incredulously. ' _Of course_ it is. You think I'd be happy if it was _Burt's?_

* * *

'Vin!'

Vin skidded to a stop at the top of the stairs, turning around at the familiar voice. 'Oh hi, Mr Soper. What can I do for you?' Though he tried to appear remotely calm, he could feel the thrum of adrenaline coursing through his veins. After a second however, he realised that Mr Soper's expression was particularly grave.

'I'm afraid I have to talk to you about something.' He faltered momentarily, something unreadable flickering in his eyes. 'Would you come to my office?'

He immediately thought of Zero, and where she could possibly be at the moment. Then, weighing his options, he decided it could wait a few more minutes. Besides, if he was getting "A Talk" in Soper's office, it probably couldn't be delayed, no matter what the reason.

So a few minutes later he found himself seated in an all-too familiar chair, fidgeting anxiously with the wristband of his watch. Soper paced around the room, pausing occasionally to straighten a relic or tapestry, seemingly unsure of where to begin.

'Sir?' Vin said hesitantly.

'Vin, I . . . I received a call about an hour ago,' Soper started slowly, finally making his way to the desk and sitting down. He grimaced, and the weary lines in his face seemed ever more prominent. 'It was . . . I -' He shook his head slightly. 'It was from the orphanage.'

Vin wasn't usually one to assume the worst of situations, but anything and _everything_ from the orphanage was bad news. 'They don't wanna take me _away_ , do they?' he cried, nearly springing to his feet. 'I – I swear I haven't been misbehaving -'

'No, nothing like that,' Soper hurriedly assured him. 'Nothing like that, I promise. They won't take you away, Vin.'

Vin let out a breath he hadn't realised he'd been holding, jaw unclenching. 'Oh. Okay.'

'But all the same, it . . . it wasn't good news.'

He swallowed uncomfortably. 'What do you mean?'

'I need you to promise me that you'll hear everything I have to say first.'

'Of course, but why . . . ?'

Soper tented his fingers and carefully surveyed Vin over the top of them. For a long moment all was silent, before finally he spoke. 'I know how . . . how passionate you are about having a family, Vin.'

Vin stayed silent, waiting for him to continue.

'And I remember you've asked me a few times over the years if I knew anything about your parents. I . . . I wasn't lying when I told you that no, I didn't _know_ anything. I'd had my suspicions, certainly, but the orphanage wouldn't give me confirmation on anything.' He exhaled slowly. 'Still, I sent a copy of your report card, and your school photo to the orphanage every year just in case they . . . they _knew_ something, and were in a position to pass those items on. If it were necessary, I mean. And then I got this phone call.'

His eyes then suddenly became very sad.

'I'm sorry, Vin. Your mother passed away during childbirth. Your father made sure you received your medallion in her memory, but . . . he couldn't keep you himself. From what I can gather, he worked in Special Operations, and that was obviously no place for a child. The orphanage was aware of this, but weren't allowed to pass on any information about it. So, you were kept in the dark. I can only presume you weren't told about your mother because she also had been associated with the forces in the past.'

He paused, absently picking up a pen before replacing it after a moment. Vin's head was spinning, and he couldn't bring himself to speak.

'Unfortunately, something went terribly wrong a month ago. Your father was killed out in the field on a classified mission. He . . . he was supposed to return for you once you turned eighteen, and then the orphanage would have permission to tell you what they knew. And that . . . that didn't get to happen, obviously. But, once the orphanage found out what happened, they phoned me immediately. They . . . they thought you should know.'

Vin's head ground to a halt. The world seemed to be spinning, and he _knew_ he was going to throw up –

His mother had died a _long_ time ago.

His father was going to _come back for him_. His father who was now _also dead_.

Gone. They were both gone.

And he would never know them.

All those childhood dreams he had were gone. Even in his loneliness, he always had the slightest hope that something could happen, that he –

That he could have a family.

And now it was all over.

 _Gone._

* * *

He couldn't recall leaving Soper's office. He couldn't recall stumbling across the grassy yard and back into the main building. He couldn't recall reaching the foot of the staircase and giving up completely, collapsing to his knees, trembling uncontrollably.

He couldn't think at all.

He didn't know how long he stayed there, but thinking about it later it would have been quite a while, considering everyone else was in class. It was even longer before he heard another voice.

'Vin?'

The nearest door opened with a quiet groan, followed by a few careful footsteps. Their owner let out a mumbled, 'well, _shit,_ ' before closing the door again. The footsteps then approached, though Vin wasn't particularly taking notice of what was going on. Then someone reached out to touch his cheek, and he caught the familiar scent of well-worn leather.

'Oi,' Zero whispered, looking oddly concerned. 'What's going on?'

He shook his head away from her, dropping his gaze downward and not speaking. If she was paying attention to him, she would go away.

She was, however, _Zero._ Rather blunt and to the point. Also as dense as a brick wall.

'Come on, you deal with _my_ shit all the time. Talk to me?' She tilted his chin back up again. 'Gimme something to work with here, would you?'

And just like that, the dam broke.

'They're gone,' he whispered, voice shaking. 'They're really gone.'

It took a moment, a very long moment, but realisation dawned over her face. 'Oh. _Oh no_.'

He let out a choked sob, screwing his eyes up. ' _They didn't come back for me_.'

'Vin, I'm sorry . . .'

He wasn't thinking when he buried his face in her midriff, hands unconsciously curling around to clutch at her back beneath her leather jacket. But he didn't care, in the end. Not really.

A hand settled on his shoulder, and another brushed gently though his hair as he cried, unable to tear himself away from that gaping hole in his chest; a hole that had always been there, but now seemed to _burn_ -'

She didn't question how he knew. She didn't tell him off for touching her. Instead she just held him, murmuring a senseless string of words in Italian as he tried, and failed, to get some sort of grip. Because, though she might not understand – she had always had a different view of family to him – she knew how much it hurt. How it tore him apart to have lost the parents he never knew, how it gave finality to those unrealised childhood dreams, and that he'd _never_ know what that kind of love felt like -

He wondered, fleetingly, if this was worse than death.

That thought only made him cry harder, reducing him to horrible, heaving sobs that were muffled in her shirt. He'd certainly never lost control like this before, though . . . he hadn't exactly _felt_ like this before. He'd never felt so lost, so _alone_ , so _afraid_.

That innocent, hopeful part of him that had stayed with him all through his youth was gone. All those dreams, everything he'd _truly_ wanted – _gone_.

And just like that, his childhood ended.

* * *

 **10/1/18**


	15. I Deserve Nothing More Than I Get

**_Title:_ Don't You Forget About Me**

 ** _Summary:_ ****As a whole, Pinkerton barely changed as its students grew older. Sadie Macbeth never abandoned her tyrannical ways, and the Invisible Network never found cause to disband. However, as Macbeth's plans for ultimate rule become increasingly more dangerous, it's only a matter of time before the consequences become deadly.**

 **Thus, the fog begins to settle.**

 **The past catches up with Vin, proving that one cannot hide from their problems forever. Soon he will have to face the music as a man, and not as the scared child he knows he is. Zero must become more invested in the future as a result of her own mistakes – the mistakes she continues to make, marring her life in the worst of ways, creating scars as deep as valleys. Trixie now struggles to keep the seams between the four of them from splitting apart, afraid to lose those she considers family to problems far greater than they can imagine.** **Newton only wants the best for those he loves, but sometimes opening those doorways means exposing oneself to the brutal reality of life. Life, which is meaningless without them.**

 **And so the final stretch begins. The clock is ticking, and it's only a matter of time before it's all over.**

 _ **Rating:**_ **T 13+.**

 _ **Chapter Summary:**_ **Damage control, mostly. And some more backstory goodness.**

 _ **Chapter Word Count:**_ **3947**

* * *

 **Eesh, it's been a while. I'll get my life together, I swear. Meanwhile, I forgot to add in a super important character detail that gets mentioned a bit later on, so I chucked that in a little haphazardly. Fight me.**

* * *

 _ **14 – I Deserve Nothing More Than I Get**_

'Oh my _God, Dad,_ you can't just drop a bomb like that _from out of nowhere!_ '

Newton belatedly realised he had begun absently flapping his spare hand again, and quickly reached out to pull Trixie to a stop where they had been walking down the hall, readjusting his phone in his other hand.

'No _– metaphorical_ bomb. Look, whatever; you choose to tell me this _now?_ '

Trixie exhaled heavily and straightened her bag strap, clearly impatient to get a move on. They _had_ intended to find Zero and Vin – either one or the other, but both would be great – but Newton had been interrupted with a phone call right as they were leaving Macbeth's classroom.

And _Macbeth_ , mind you, was _livid_ – just like she always was when someone wasn't present. What _really_ set her off though, was that she couldn't find either of them when she set out to search. And to top it off, Mr Soper was in a meeting with someone, so she couldn't go and complain to him about it either.

It was all a bit of a shit-show, to be honest. Newton's day had been hectic enough as it was, but to top it all off, now _this_ was happening.

'So you're _actually_ getting married? What about your work?'

' _She understands how important my job is to me. I have to admit, she establishes a bit more of a balance – I'm back to eating three square meals a day. It really helps when someone is there to remind you._ '

'Okay, _first_ of all, it was _your_ idea to send me to boarding school -'

' _I know, I know, but that was because I knew I wouldn't be able to help you if I got too busy. You were too young back then. We've discussed this.'_

Newton exhaled heavily, running a hand through his hair. 'Yeah, okay. But I haven't even met this woman yet, and you're telling me she's going to be my stepmom! Can you see why I'm a little stressed out by this?'

' _Claudia's Europe trip was unavoidable, Newton. She really wishes she could have met you, but there will be time between now and Easter -'_

'Easter's a bit soon, don't you think?'

' _The sooner, the better, actually. We don't want to make a big fuss about it – just a small wedding. You can bring your friends, if you'd like.'_

He leaned against the wall, dimly aware that Trixie was now aggressively texting on her phone, a rather tense look on her face.

'Look, don't get me wrong, I'm _happy_ for you, Dad. I mean, you've been kinda lonely since Mom died, and it's a good thing that you've been able to move on. I just . . . I just need some time to process things, okay? School's a bit crazy at the moment, and -'

' _It's alright, I understand. You work on keeping your grades up, and we'll talk about it later, okay?_ '

'I . . . yeah, alright. See you later.'

When he hung up, Trixie met his gaze. 'Everything alright?'

He waved her off. 'Don't worry about it. We should probably find Vin and Zero.'

She held up her phone. 'Already done. And . . .' She grimaced, before wordlessly handing over the phone, the message tab open to a conversation with Zero.

 _found vin, soper just got news about his parents. not good_

'Oh _shit_.'

'Yeah.'

'Wait, so . . . his parents? What does that even _mean?_ '

'I don't know,' Trixie admitted. 'But we should go. Those two don't have a good history of being alone together with their problems.'

* * *

This was happening way too often to be healthy. Though, truth be told, it relieved her slightly that the situation wasn't _hers_ this time.

Fully aware that if they went back to a bedroom she'd do something stupid, but also unsure of what other alternative was available, they went back to Zero's room to deal with this in a more private setting. Well, to be honest, she really just dumped him on her bed and chucked him a sheet of aspirin, which bounced off his head and disappeared down the side of the bed. Then, at a loss of what else to do, she started doing some pull-ups in the vain hope that it would quell the anxious energy buzzing through her.

Thirty reps later, that really wasn't the case. Vin, though _seeming_ to be watching her, was rather staring blankly in her general direction through red-rimmed eyes. It was clear his mind was in an awful place, a long way from where they were.

Whether that was a good or bad thing, she wasn't sure. Feelings weren't her kind of expertise.

She snorted at the thought. _Obviously_. "Feelings" were the reason she was a homeless, pregnant teenager with no money to boot. If her problems had been dealt with earlier, she could have saved herself at least half the trouble. Probably.

She gave up on the pull-ups and instead opted to hang upside down on the bar, finally meeting Vin's eyes. 'Trixie's coming,' she told him. 'She's better at this than I am. She'll be able to help.'

He gave a noncommittal grunt in response. Zero swayed from side to side uncomfortably, feeling no better now that blood was rushing to her head.

'Look,' she said after a moment. 'Vin -'

'Don't bother,' he mumbled, drawing his knees up to his chest. 'It's not – just – just leave it.'

That kind of stung, even though he had every right to shut her up right now. Damn it, despite how brash and disinterested she normally was about everyone else's problems, she _really_ did want to help this time. If she could do _anything_ -

There was a hurried knock on the door before Trixie poked her head in, looking worried. 'Are you alright? Vin?' She and Newton stepped in, before she quickly closed the door behind them. 'Was that you with Soper? Are you in trouble?'

Vin shook his head sharply, rubbing at his red eyes with his fist. 'No, no, it's – it's not like that.' He drew in a shuddering breath, staring at his hands. 'Um, my parents, they – they aren't . . . they aren't . . . _around_ , anymore.'

Trixie, who had automatically begun tidying up to steady her nerves, looked at him with wide eyes. 'Y-you mean -?'

'Yeah.'

Newton exhaled with a sharp breath, looking for all the world like someone had just run over his puppy. 'Shit Vin. I'm – God, I'm so sorry.'

'Um, how did you know, if you don't mind me asking?' Trixie said after a moment, setting down the pile of stray clothing she had already accumulated.

'Soper,' Zero supplied, swinging down from the bar and landing rather unsteadily on the ground. She let out a surprised grunt at the exertion it had taken, blinking stupidly for a moment before finishing what she had been saying. 'The orphanage. All them – they've been in cahoots or some shit.'

'All _of_ them,' Trixie corrected automatically, before swallowing awkwardly and sitting down beside Vin. She took his hand and laced their fingers together, chewing her lip. 'I'm sorry, Vin. I wish I could do something.'

Vin winced slightly, but he was already leaning into Trixie's presence, resting his head on her shoulder. Zero supposed it was a more comfortable kind of dynamic he could deal with at the moment – the two of them had always been more like siblings than friends, even when they were little. Zero had never really understood it, but then again, she'd never expected to.

Newton glanced over at Zero, hands stuffed in the pockets of his jeans.

'So Vin was with Soper, but where were you?'

That was a bit of a subjective question, really. Did he mean when she initially fled and spent ten minutes heaving up bile in the bathroom, or when in a fit of absolute terror, thinking that maybe _somehow_ this was all wrong – some godawful nightmare that was a fragment of her fucked up imagination – she slipped out of the school grounds and bolted five miles down the road to the nearest town?

Subjective question indeed.

Well, the vomiting part was pretty self-explanatory. The second bit however . . .

It had occurred to her about a week ago that despite everything that had happened, she still hadn't taken the traditional "Piss-Stick Method of General Accuracy". Maybe – just _maybe_ – if something told her that there was the _slightest_ chance of this all being a mistake, then she could breathe again.

At least, that was what she told herself as she sprinted across the tarmac, dimly aware that she looked like a wild mess with her hair flying everywhere, jacket tied around her waist, and tripping over the flyaway laces of her combat boots. _Just maybe . . ._

But it all became a brutal reality when she slid a pregnancy test across the drugstore counter and the gum-chewing cashier on the other side evaluated her with a judgemental eye. She couldn't even bring herself to snap; her heart was thudding in her ears, and she was more concerned about finding a bathroom as soon as possible.

She didn't know what she had been expecting, really. That little stick told her just what everything else had, and that there was no going back. She was well and truly, without a doubt, knocked up.

As she sat outside on a bench, her gaze had drifted to the abortion clinic across the road. For a fleeting second a thought crossed her mind – _could she?_ She hadn't been able to forget what his voice sounded like when he had realised ('oh _shit –_ ') and she figured that walking through that door would save her a lot of trouble.

But, she supposed, it would also _give_ her a lot of trouble.

She felt like she would be throwing something away. She had no idea how many times her mom had miscarried, but she knew it had been more than once – more than that one time she could recall. Somehow the thought of abandoning something so monumental that had happened by sheer _accident –_ it made her nauseous.

So she got to her feet. She pulled on her jacket, pulled her hair back into a ponytail, and scuffed her boots against the pavement. She stuffed her hands in her pockets, still clutching that little stick.

And she turned away.

'Out,' she said finally, not meeting Newton's eyes. 'I went out.'

His eyes widened, seemingly jumping to conclusions. 'Did you go and -?'

' _No_ ,' she snapped immediately, hackles rising. 'I _said_ that I _wouldn't_ , remember?'

But she'd thought about it _._ She had thought about it a _lot_.

Hell, she almost _did._ If it weren't for her morals, it . . . it would be over by now. Everything would be . . . it would be _gone_ , and -

'Zero?' Trixie said quietly, meeting her eyes with a look that knew she wasn't being entirely truthful.

She swallowed uncomfortably. 'Look,' she said, bunching her jacket sleeves in her hands. 'We don't need to talk about this now. Hell, Vin -'

' _Vin_ doesn't want the world to stop for him,' Vin cut in roughly, lifting his head from Trixie's shoulder. 'Look, I'm _dealing_ with it. But if you're all gonna walk on glass around me, I'm gonna damn well cut you out, got it? Besides, we've got more than one problem on our plate right now.' He sighed heavily, staring at his hands.

That made her feel stupidly like a deer in headlights, and just like that, the story started to slip out.

'I – I thought about it,' she whispered. 'I was _there_ , in town, and the place was right across the road – I could've just . . .' She trailed off, biting her tongue.

'But you _didn't_ ,' Trixie finished. 'I think that says a lot, honey.'

'Don't call me that,' she muttered reflexively, but when she looked up, she saw a small smile tugging on the corner of Trixie's mouth.

'We'll figure this out,' Newton put forward, looking between them. He glanced to Vin, who was now picking at his fingernails. ' _All_ of this, okay?'

'You should pursue motivational speaking,' Trixie quipped, smirking a little. He flipped her off, still trying to stress his point.

'I just hate the idea of you guys trying to deal with stuff alone. I mean, we're supposed to look _after_ each other, right? It kinda scares me that . . . that we might be drifting apart.'

'Newton,' Zero said firmly, screwing up her forehead. 'We are _not_ drifting.'

' _Says the girl who hooked up with -_ '

'Not. Drifting.'

'You're such a _hypocrite_.'

'Don't make me fight you.'

'Zero, you are literally 5'4".'

'I'll still kick your ass.'

'Love you too.'

'Yeah, whatever.' Newton raised his eyebrows at her, and she couldn't help the small laugh that escaped her. ' _Fine_. You're not completely awful.'

'Such kind words.'

'You're _tolerable_. _Barely_.'

Newton held a hand up to his ear, now sporting the biggest, shit-eating grin he could muster. 'I'm sorry, what was that? "Newton, you're my favourite person and I love you too"? Was that what I heard?'

' _Sei uno stronzo_ ,' she muttered, rolling her eyes.

'You're really pushing your luck,' Trixie told Newton, grinning slightly. 'You know she's the _definition_ of "emotional constipation", right?'

'I'll second that,' Vin mumbled.

'Fuck you very much,' Zero grumbled, while Newton barked out a laugh.

The mood sobered again after a moment, but it was a more comfortable kind of silence than it had been before. Trixie squeezed Vin's hand once before letting go, tilting her head in his direction.

'We'll give you a bit of space, yeah? Assuming you're feeling a bit better?'

Vin gave a one-shouldered shrug, not meeting her eyes. 'Yeah, I'll be fine. You guys – you guys can go, if you want.'

Newton seemed a little uneasy at that suggestion, but Zero was honest-to-God more than happy to get the hell out and not deal with all of these emotions anymore. 'Alright,' she said, hands on hips, 'then I'm going to get some pizza. Any orders?'

Trixie frowned at her disapprovingly. 'Zero, it's _ten in the morning._ '

'And where are you going to get that, anyway?' Newton added, raising an eyebrow in disbelief.

'Town,' Zero replied simply. 'But if you don't want any it's not my problem.'

'I don't think that's a very good idea,' Trixie said. 'You've already skipped the morning lessons -'

'Trix, I don't think you quite understand. I want the _biggest, unhealthiest meal I can get my hands on_ , and nothing's going to damn well stop that from happening.'

'Is it even _safe_ to -'

'Guess we'll find out.' Her reply was clipped, and her patience rather short. Funny, that.

Trixie let out a long-suffering sigh, rolling her eyes. 'I guess there could be worse cravings,' she muttered reluctantly. 'Bring back something for me.'

' _Trix_.' Newton actually looked a little miffed, turning to her with wide eyes. ' _You're_ condoning this?'

Trixie shrugged. 'Maybe if we cooperate now, no one will be forced to get her donuts in the middle of the night some other time.'

Zero wrinkled her nose. 'Says who?'

'Says my intuition.'

'Oh, and you're an expert, are you?'

Trixie smirked knowingly, tilting her head slightly to the side. 'I like to think so.'

'Right, whatever. Anyway, I'm going.'

She made it to the door before Newton finally caved, calling after her, 'Make sure it's got pepperoni!'

* * *

 _Even given the circumstances, honesty had been one of the hardest things to abide by that day._

 _Though Zero had never really stopped to think about it, she certainly had more problems than the average twelve year old and it tended to show sometimes. Like now._

' _Given what we're heading into . . .' Her fists were clenched tightly, and she barely dared to look Vin or Newton in the eye. It had been hard enough coming clean to Trixie about this, but somehow it felt so much worse now. She desperately wanted to run, to hide from the truth, but she knew she was stronger than that. She had to be._

 _(She had no idea that in two years' time things would be far worse, and she would have bigger secrets to hide.)_

 _And so she pulled off her shirt._

 _They made strangled noises of horror – who wouldn't, really – and there was no avoiding it now. She could almost feel their eyes roaming over the awful, mutilated array of raised, white scars that decorated her upper back; some of which were simple cuts, and others that had been gouged chunks of flesh._

 _They had come from broken glass bottles, over the course of several years. When Zero had first left home, some scars had still been angry red welts that had just scabbed over. Others were so old she couldn't even remember getting them._

 _(Now there were also two cuts on her face, one through her eyebrow and another along her cheekbone, but that had been a different circumstance. She was fourteen then, desperately hoping her father had changed – that maybe things could be better. How wrong she had been.)_

 _At first she had hidden the scars out of shame. Because, while she may have been independent and strong-willed, she truly believed that her father's wrath had been her fault. She had brought this upon herself, after all._

 _But that day, something changed. Vin had said, 'Zero, I'm so_ sorry _,' and the simple thought that she_ wasn't _the one to blame shifted something in her. Maybe she didn't have to hide from it, after all. Maybe._

 _So, over time, she learned not to care. Naturally people asked questions – girls would stare in the bathroom, and she had spent an awful hour in Soper's office desperately trying to convince him that she had gotten them by accident, and that he didn't need to call social services. She wasn't sure she had entirely convinced him, but she had been adamant that no outsider get involved. This was her fault after all, and ultimately her problem to deal with._

 _Soper had, reluctantly, backed off, but he still kept an annoyingly close eye on her. If she so much as got a bump (which happened rather often as a product of her recklessness), she was evaluated and wrung out until she could just about cry with exhaustion, but she had come to expect it. She had wondered, once, if this was what having a_ real _father felt like. Having someone who gave enough of a damn about her well-being, who was kind yet honest, who actively tried to_ help _her – but at the end of the day, instead of annoying her about boys and drinking and sneaking out, he collected her shitty homework and pressed her potential and tried his damned best to counsel her. So, it wasn't necessarily a bad thing._

 _There were worse alternatives, after all._

* * *

Trixie came back after dinner.

Honestly, Vin had been expecting her. It just wasn't "Trixie" to let things lie, especially when she wasn't through with them yet. And really, Vin didn't mind that much – it was _Trixie_.

'Hey, doll,' he mumbled when her head appeared in the door frame. 'What's up?'

She arched a perfectly groomed eyebrow. 'Shouldn't I be asking _you_ that?'

He snorted half-heartedly. 'Touche.'

'Anyway -' She stepped inside, shutting the door with a quiet _snap_ behind her. '- I figured if you wanted to . . . _splurge_ , I guess . . . now would be the time.'

'Splurge?'

'For lack of better words.' She shrugged slightly, sitting down beside him on the bed. She rested her cheek on his shoulder, and he let out a quiet sigh, looping a hand around her waist and tugging her closer. After a moment, he let his head drop down atop hers.

'I s'pose you've got a point,' he admitted reluctantly.

'I just figured it would be easier if you were only talking to one person. I know you love the other guys, just – I thought it might be a bit . . .'

'Much,' Vin supplied.

She hummed in agreement.

It was quiet for a long moment, in which Vin tried to sort his jumbled thoughts into a marginally coherent sentence. Unsurprisingly enough, it wasn't working. 'It's kinda like . . .' He made a funny little gesture with his hands, as though that would somehow help the communication process. 'It's like I feel lost, or something. I'm not really sure.'

Trixie didn't reply, and he found himself grateful for that. It seemed a little less daunting if there was someone just to _listen_ , and just like that, it all came out. Sure, it was rough and fragmented, and Vin honestly had no clue if she actually understood half of what he meant, but it also helped him sort out his own thoughts.

He told her how he wasn't sure what he was supposed to do with himself now that he knew he had no hope of getting what he'd dreamed. He told her how he was also a little confused – _why_ was he grieving for parents he never knew? For parents that had essentially _abandoned him_ , duty be damned? Why did he feel lost _now_ , when he had essentially been that way his entire life? It wasn't as though anything had _really_ changed – he was still an orphan, and he was still following the same course as he had been before this whole mess – it wasn't as though he'd been thrown out into the street on his ass or anything. All that had changed was what he _knew_.

It just . . . it just wasn't really _processing_.

Trixie was quiet for a long moment when he finally trailed off, fingers idly tracing the wristband of his watch. When she spoke, her voice was soft, though a little shaky.

'I . . . I know it isn't exactly the same, Vin . . . but you know you've always _had_ a family. Since coming here, I mean. You were thrown into a boarding school, completely alone, and you _found_ yourself one. It doesn't matter whether it's by blood – you found _us_ , and though we may not tell you much, we are _incredibly_ grateful for that. And we _love_ you, more than you can imagine.' She tipped her head to give him a tiny smile, her curls tickling his nose. 'And I know that my opinion isn't really important here, but I think it's the family you choose for yourself that matters the most.'

'Of _course_ your opinion matters,' Vin mumbled, his mouth quirking up slightly in spite of himself. 'You're the smart one here.'

She snorted. 'Yeah, _right_. Not the point, Vin.'

'It kind of is. You're the one _helping_ me, after all.'

'I dunno, is it working?'

He exhaled slowly, closing his eyes and leaning into her shoulder, feeling the comfort of her steady presence. She _was_ right, really. He had chosen a family for himself; it might be small, and the foundations a bit rocky, but it was _his_. Trixie was like the sister he had never had – she called him out on his bullshit but still cared enough to help where she could. And Newton, for that matter, was like his brother. Meanwhile, Zero . . . well, that one was still up in the air. But he wasn't thinking about that right now.

'You know,' he said softly, 'I think it is.' He squeezed her hand as she let out a quiet laugh.

Maybe it was.

* * *

 **19/5/18**


	16. Heaven's Gates Won't Open Up For Me

**Title: Don't You Forget About Me**  
 **Rating: T 13+.**  
 **Chapter Summary: Liz figures she has to get her ass into gear and stirs up some problems. They don't go down well.**  
 **Chapter Word Count: 4223**

* * *

 **Sonuvabitch I deleted half of this chapter because it was shit. Not to say that it isn't shit now, but it's marginally better.**

* * *

 _ **15 – Heaven's Gates Won't Open Up For Me**_

* * *

'I need to talk to you.'

Zero paused on her way down the hall, raising an eyebrow at Van, who stood in the doorway of her bedroom. 'Dreamhouse is that way, Barbie,' she replied, gesturing vaguely to the left with a hand.

Van crossed her arms. 'Oh, and you're _so_ original. Look, it's kinda important.'

A beat of silence passed. Then two. Finally, Zero sighed, stuffing her hands in her pockets. 'What do you want?'

'To talk,' Van repeated. She then reached out and grabbed Zero abruptly by the wrist, dragging her forward. 'Come on.'

' _Hey!_ Let _go_ of -'

Van released her once they were in the room, and shut the door behind them. 'Sit,' she ordered, gesturing to the dressing table seat.

Zero scowled at her. ' _Yeah_ , like I'm gonna -'

' _Sit_.'

Zero sat.

Van stuck a hand on her hip, tilting her head a little and looking at her critically. She then reached out with a perfectly manicured hand, sifting her fingers through a loose lock of Zero's hair. 'You _do_ have pretty hair,' she mused, now twirling it into a coil. 'May I?'

It was no secret that Zero hated being touched, and she clenched her hands in her jacket pockets, determined not to snap. ' _No,'_ she replied through gritted teeth, as though it were the most obvious answer in the world.

Van simply arched an eyebrow. 'This conversation will be a lot nicer if you say yes.'

 _Ugh._

'Fine,' she muttered. 'Have at it.'

She clapped her hands together, beaming. ' _Great!_ ' And just like that, she scurried around to the dresser and pulled out a hairbrush, along with a million other things Zero honestly didn't know the names for.

Although she hated being groomed (Trixie had tried a few times, to no avail), she had to admit that it was kinda nice just to sit and do nothing while the tangles got combed out. Sure, she'd be caught dead before saying it out loud, and she would _never_ give Van that satisfaction, but, well . . .

She scowled to herself. Those damn hormones were loosening her screws.

'So what do you want?' she asked tonelessly, picking at her fingernails.

Van hummed as an indication that she had heard, before answering. 'It's about Burt.'

Zero tensed a little. _Well shit._ She should have seen that coming, honestly.

'I know you slept with him,' she continued, 'but he's a dipshit and I dumped his ass a long time ago, so I'm just going to let it go.'

Zero narrowed her eyes suspiciously. Van _never_ let things go, so this was a serious cause for alarm bells. 'What do you want to talk about, then?'

'Well.' Van tied off a braid with an elastic and dropped it over Zero's shoulder. 'First of all, before all the stories start going around and shitting up the details, I want to make sure it's not his baby.'

It felt like she had just swallowed a bucket of ice water. How the _fuck_ did Van know? She quickly glanced down at her midriff, suddenly afraid she had gotten fat overnight. She hadn't. Her stomach wasn't _visibly_ different (perhaps just a little softer) so maybe she could derail this conversation before it began.

'What the fuck are you on about?' she asked, making sure her tone was both incredulous and confused. Van sighed in annoyance, now working on another braid.

'Don't play dumb, I know someone knocked you up,' she replied flatly. 'I've heard you puking in the bathroom all week.' She paused momentarily. 'I'm not as stupid as I look.'

Zero raised her hands in surrender. 'I never said you were.' Though, she would be lying if she said she hadn't been _thinking_ it.

Van huffed, resuming whatever she had been doing. 'So, is it?'

' _No_ ,' she replied, trying to convey what she meant without shaking her head. 'It's not – it's not – no.'

'Alright, I believe you. Don't start freaking out.' Van dropped the second braid, and when Zero looked in the mirror she saw her hair had been woven into a set of meticulously tight boxer braids. She wasn't entirely opposed to it – the symmetry was oddly satisfying.

Van moved around to the dressing table and picked up something else.

'Here's the thing,' she said, drawing up another chair. When she sat down, Zero realised she was armed with makeup brushes.

'Oh, _hell no_ ,' she said, reflexively leaning away. This was where she _drew the line._ She started to get up, but at Van's sharp ' _sit,'_ she dropped back down again, sighing heavily.

'Us blondes have gotta stick together,' Van said, now happily pencilling in her eyebrows. 'And I think you're the best person to help me get back at Burt.'

'I'm not blonde,' Zero replied pointedly.

'Honey, you're blonde. _Platinum._ Accept it, move on. Anyway, I figured with your strength and my good looks, we could figure something out.'

Zero levelled her with a dry, disinterested gaze. 'It might have flown over your head, _doll,_ but we're both kind of lacking in the brains department, here.'

She pursed her lips. 'You may have a point. It shouldn't stop us, though.' She paused, an open pan of eyeshadow sitting loosely in her hand. 'Burt's not that bright, either. Close your eyes.'

Zero sighed, but reluctantly complied. _If anyone saw her like this . . ._

'Has it occurred to you that I may not want to draw _attention_ to this whole . . . _situation?_ ' she muttered, curling her fingers agitatedly. She tried not to flinch at the odd sensation of the makeup brushes swiping over her eyelids. 'Because as far as I'm concerned, fucking _karma_ is out to get me.'

There was a momentary pause as Van contemplated that. 'I think I remember reading somewhere that "karma" is a lot more complicated than Caucasians think it is. Like, the word gets misused _way_ too often and -'

'You're getting off topic, Van.'

'Oh. Right.' She resumed the copious application of powder. 'Honestly, I think this would warrant some _good_ luck on your part.'

'. . . _Still_ off topic.'

'Shut up. I'm trying to be nice here, and you're kinda making it _really fucking difficult._ I was just saying after all the shit you've been though, aren't good things supposed to balance it out?'

'You don't know _squat_ about my life, okay? Because -'

Van scoffed. 'I know your dad beat you up when you were a kid.'

' – any other idea is bullshi – what the _fuck_ did you just say?'

Gut dropping, she lurched forward with an undignified noise and met Van's eyes with nothing short of unconcealed horror.

 _ShitshitSHIT -_

'How the _fuck_ do you know that?' she growled, grabbing Van's wrist. 'How the _fuck –_ I haven't told a _single_ person my whole goddamn life, so you'd better start talking _now -'_

' _Stop_ ,' Van ordered sharply, face stony. 'I _told_ you, I'm smarter than I look, okay? And don't you start hounding me about it, 'cause _believe it or not_ , I know a thing or two about human decency and haven't told anyone.'

' _That's not an answer -_ ' Zero forced herself to steady as her voice rose an octave, clenching her fists. 'W-what makes you think it's true, then, if you don't know for sure?'

Van shrugged indifferently. 'I dunno. Ever since we were like, twelve, I've always just kind of suspected it. Y'know, with you being homeless and all. And then, like, you stopped hiding those scars in the showers and stuff, and then _everyone_ knew something was up, so . . .' She trailed off, shrugging again and biting her lip. 'I don't know why I cared enough to think about it, but -'

'Well I don't know either,' Zero snapped. 'And _you_ -' She jabbed a finger at Van's chest. '- aren't going to tell _anyone._ 'Cause then social services are gonna turn up asking questions, and that's the _last_ thing I want. I've got my life under control, and you are _not_ gonna fuck it up for me, okay?'

Van levelled her with the most deadpan expression she had ever seen. ' _Oh yeah._ Seventeen, unemployed and pregnant. Sounds like things are going _great_.'

' _Shut up_.'

'Well, you're also socially challenged runaway and a hoe with daddy issues. I think I'm holding the blackmail cards right now, hon -'

'Vanessa, I will fuck up _you and everything you hold dear_ -'

'- and I have decided for the moment, that I am not going to use them.'

Zero paused to process what just happened, before exhaling slowly. 'What do you mean?'

'I'm not a sadist, okay? I mean, like it or not, we're more alike than you'd think.' She huffed when Zero scoffed, before continuing. 'Besides, I really don't care about being petty right now, so I'm gonna let you off the hook.' She gave a half-hearted snort. 'Go; be free, you heinous bitch.'

'Wow, I think that's the nicest thing anyone's ever said to me,' Zero replied dryly.

She rolled her eyes. 'Yeah, alright, whatever. Anyway, Toriello?'

'What?'

'I know you've been on the fence about the whole abuse thing, and I'm gonna let you sort that out yourself, but rape? That's where I draw the line. Do something about it.' The corners of her mouth were turned down with obvious discomfort. 'Please?'

Zero, who had just started to stand, immediately wobbled and fell back into the chair, knocking it sideways. She hit the ground with an _oof_ , heart hammering. 'What the – what the _fuck?_ How – That was -'

'I had a hunch, and your reaction just proved me right. But get some help.' She folded her arms contemplatively. 'Consider it payment for screwing my boyfriend; I won't hold a grudge if you sort your shit out. Deal?'

Hearing it voiced out loud so matter-of-factly made her feel slightly sick. She just stared up at Van, eyes wide and mouthing soundlessly, completely lost.

' _Why are you being so nice?_ ' she whispered in a trembling voice, doing everything she could to keep from crying.

Van didn't meet her eyes for a long moment, but when she spoke, her voice also shook. 'Let's . . . let's just say that I've been there, okay? And I wouldn't wish it on anyone else, not in a million years.'

'Oh.'

She held out a hand and pulled Zero to her feet. Her eyes drifted down to her midriff. 'A-and sometimes I regret aborting after it all, but . . . I couldn't do it.' Eyes cast down, she moved to the door and opened it. 'But maybe you can.' She swallowed, seeming to regain some sense of bearing. 'Alright, now scram; sharing session's over. Being nice to you feels wrong on so many levels.'

Zero pulled a face, still internally trying to sort out her emotions. 'The feeling's mutual, dollface.'

The corners of Van's lips tugged upwards at that, and somehow – _somehow_ – it wasn't the worst thing, after all.

* * *

(The door to Van's bedroom opened just as Liz managed to tuck herself safely out of sight. Pressing a hand to her heart as she processed everything she had just heard, she couldn't help but let out a faint exhale of, 'Holy _shit._ ')

* * *

This. _This_ was how she was going to win.

Elizabeth had had her doubts in the past, since Zero's behaviour was about as predictable as an insane, drugged rottweiler, but she figured that if she had any opportunity to get answers, this was it. But she had to be very, _very_ precise with her actions.

 _Knock, knock, knock._

There was a muffled response of ' _Piss off_ ,' from inside the room, which Liz promptly ignored. She shoved the door open and waltzed in, doing her best to look as nonchalant as possible. 'Evenin' darl.'

Zero, who had been sitting cross-legged on her bed and sharpening a stick with a shitty old pocketknife, blinked owlishly. 'And what the fuck do _you_ want?'

The edge of Liz's mouth tugged upward, though there was no mirth in it. 'Funny story, that.'

Although she clearly lacked intelligence in several departments, Zero Toriello wasn't _completely_ stupid. Her blue eyes narrowed and she lifted her chin slightly. It was a subconscious move of asserting dominance, Liz noted, and felt slightly sickened by the irony of it all. 'What. Do. You. _Want?_ '

'To make a deal,' Liz replied simply, picking her way across the messy floor and perching herself on the edge of the bed. She took extra care to make her actions appear as smooth and unruffled as possible, considering what she was about to do. Body language was _crucial_ when blackmailing a person who wasn't very good with words. She tilted her head toward Zero, and arched an eyebrow. 'So I want you to hear me out.'

She scowled. 'Hey, we've never even _talked_ before, so what the hell could _you_ want? I mean -'

' _You know,_ ' Liz interrupted, inspecting her nails, 'I've never really wanted to believe the trope that pregnant women get irrationally cranky – you know, for the sake of feminism and all – but I guess I could be proved wrong.'

All of the blood promptly drained from Zero's face, and her mouth closed with an audible click. 'What the _fuck?'_

'And . . . I s'pose irrational people aren't all that great for listenin' to reason. Y'know, single track mind and all.'

'What the _fuck_ , Elizabeth.'

Liz raised her hands. 'Look kid, I won't say a word. I've just come to ask favour of you and your little espionage group.'

That one had just been a wild guess – she still wasn't completely certain about this, but she figured she might as well kill two birds with one stone.

If possible, she went even paler. 'Jesus _Christ_ -'

Liz was afraid she was going to throw up, but somehow managed to keep up her demeanour. She was an _awful_ person. That was it. _Fuck_. She didn't _want_ this. She didn't -

'So, now that we're on the same page; here's what you're gonna do.'

* * *

' . . . but I don't get it, _why_ should -'

'Because it's _not fair on you_ , okay? I just think it's easier if I handle this myself -'

'I haven't had time to _think_ , Zero, let alone talk about it! How would you have _any_ idea what I want to do?'

'I _don't_. But – but look, I _have_. It's like – it's – _damn it_.'

'Maybe I _want_ to be a part of this.'

'It's – I – _you don't know what you're talking about._ '

' . . . Don't I?'

'Shit, Vin, I'm sorry, I didn't mean that -'

'Yes, you did.'

'No – it's – I -'

'Look, I get that you're not good with words. Neither am I. You don't want me to be a part of this? Then fine. I need some space, anyway.'

' _Vin -'_

'Look, I'll see you later.'

' _VIN -'_

* * *

It seemed like everything had gone downhill _far_ too quickly. The whole week leading into December had been one enormous train wreck, and Trixie had absolutely _no clue_ what to do about it. Vin stumbling into her room absolutely _smashed_ in the early hours of Thursday morning was the icing on the cake.

'Trixie?'

Trixie looked up from her Algebra textbook to see him clinging onto the door frame, eyes wet and unfocused.

Oh. Oh _dear_.

Was this going to be a reoccurring theme or something?

'Vin?' she started hesitantly.

He gave a hiccup in response.

'Are – what's wrong?'

He sniffed. 'Thought I could fix it,' he mumbled sadly, stumbling forward. She caught him before he tripped, settling him down on the bed and letting him wrap his arms around her midriff. 'Thought she . . . thought she liked me or sm'thin'.'

Oh. _Oh._

With a sinking sense of clarity, Trixie realised what he meant. He'd evidently tried to talk to Zero.

That _clearly_ hadn't gone well.

'Of course she likes you, sweetie,' she said quietly, absently combing her fingers through his hair. 'She's always liked you.'

He hiccuped again, but it sounded an awful lot like a choked off sob.

'She's just – she's never been good at expressing her feelings.'

' . . . said she doesn't . . . doesn't wan' me t'stay.'

It took a moment for that to process, but once it did, Trixie made a strangled noise of horror. 'She said _what?_ '

Vin mumbled incoherently. Trixie turned his chin so she could look him in the eye.

' _Vin_ ,' she said sharply. ' _What_ exactly did she say?'

He sighed. 'I . . . I tried to talk about . . . y'know -'

'I know what you mean,' Trixie said impatiently. 'But -'

'I'm _getting_ there!' Vin snapped, scowling. He clumsily scrubbed a hand over his face, exhaling shakily. 'She . . . said it would be better for me. If – if I let her deal with it alone. The baby.'

 _Oh Jesus Christ._

'Fucking _moron_ ,' Trixie hissed, pinching the bridge of her nose. 'Why the _hell_ would she think – what, is she possessed or something? She was _terrified_ before! Terrified of being _left!_ So why does she want to be left alone now? _Ugh!_ '

'Y'telling me,' Vin mumbled.

'This doesn't make _sense_.' She exhaled sharply and scowled to herself. 'I don't – it's not . . .'

She spent a long moment trying to compose herself, before giving up entirely and grasping Vin's shoulder with her spare hand. 'Honey, you need to sleep this off. We know you aren't nice when you're hungover.'

He hummed with quiet indignation. 'Hypocrite.'

' _I'm_ not nice when I'm sober. There's a difference.'

He went quiet after that, not speaking for a while. When he finally did, his voice was soft, and a little rough. 'Trix?'

'Yeah?'

'. . . I'm scared.'

And just like that, her heart broke.

* * *

Trixie had always been one to keep her composure – to hold her own and fight her battles with calm words and razor wit – but right now she was _angry_. No, she was beyond angry; she was _seething_ to the point of irrationality. And that, evidently, had been what dictated her next move.

Heads were going to _roll._

She found Zero in the crowded corridor outside of Soper's classroom, and despite the fact that she _knew_ this was going to bite her in the ass later, she snapped. Striding forward and grabbing her sharply by the elbow, she yanked Zero around to face her.

'What the _hell_ did you do,' she hissed. It came out more like a statement than a question.

Zero frowned at her, trying to yank her arm out of Trixie's grip. 'The fuck do you mean?'

Something about that grated on her nerves in exactly the wrong way, and she couldn't help the little snarl that escaped her at that. 'You know _exactly_ what I mean. Why do you keep screwing around with him? With Vin?'

Something darkened behind Zero's eyes at that. 'Fucking _hell_ , Trix. I'm not -'

'He doesn't _understand!_ ' Trixie cried, throwing her arms out. She knew she was raising her voice now, but _damn_ it she didn't care. ' _Christ,_ you can't yank him around however you feel like! If you're going to be a bitch about it, at least _let him know_.'

'Why the hell are you fighting his battles _for_ him? What are you, the messenger?'

'Oh no, no, _no,_ don't you go looking for loopholes! He is in _no_ state -'

'Then why doesn't he fucking _man up -_ '

'You did _not_ just say that. _Zero_ _Alessa_ _Toriello_ , you are _above_ that.'

Zero snarled. 'Apparently not. What, does that surprise you?'

The crowd around them had started to realise that something was going on, and a few people stepped back hesitantly. Honestly, Trixie didn't blame them.

' _Jesus_ ,' she growled, 'you're just digging yourself a bigger hole, aren't you?'

'It's not like you're doing anything to _help_ the situation -'

'And _why should I?_ You got yourself in this mess!'

'Then why are you helping _Vin,_ huh?'

'Because he is my _friend_ , and you've gone and screwed him up!' Trixie took a step forward, crowding further into her space. ' _This is what happens when you do that_.'

'You don't know anything!' Zero snapped, now clearly angry. 'You don't _get it!_ It's not like -'

'I know _enough_ , and you're acting like an _absolute fucking jackass -'_

It was going to happen sooner or later, and it wasn't exactly like Trixie hadn't been looking for a fight. She'd been itching for one, actually – a feeling that was disturbingly unfamiliar to her. So it had been instinct enough to swerve the uppercut Zero threw out, and retaliate by smacking her upside the jaw as hard as she could.

The commotion was loud around them; kids shrieked and backed away into either side of the hall, knowing well enough to keep their distance. A few of the boys whooped in delighted surprise, letting out calls of 'cat-fight!' and applauding. Van said, 'what the _hell?_ ', Ben let out a feeble, 'Trixie, _no . . ._ ', and Tom dragged Cathy and Bertha back a few steps, grumbling 'this is gonna get _ugly._ '

Zero blinked, clearly stunned that Trixie _actually_ had the balls to hit her. Trixie had to admit she was a little surprised by herself as well. But she didn't have the time to think about it, because oh _shit_ , she had just gotten herself in a fight with _Zero Toriello._ She was _screwed_.

'You don't know _anything!_ ' Zero rammed her into the wall with all of the compact strength she could muster, and Trixie groaned as all of the air was knocked out of her lungs. She did her best to knock her off, reaching out and cuffing her across the face with the side of her fist.

'I know that you're a coward!' Trixie yelled. 'You're a goddamn _coward_ and you won't admit -'

' _Shut UP!_ ' She was thrown against the wall again, and Trixie couldn't help the awful laugh that bubbled out of her before she lunged forward and threw another punch, grabbing Zero roughly by the shoulders.

'You know I'm not wrong!' she shouted, swerving another punch. 'I'm _not fucking WRONG, AM I?_ '

A new voice broke into the chaos, a rough cry of, ' _Hey, cut it OUT!'_ and Trixie felt a pair of broad, calloused hands dragging her away. She struggled against Newton's grip, elbowing him in the gut and breaking free, lunging at Zero again.

And then Soper was there, running through the crowd and throwing himself between them, hands held out in either direction in an attempt to pacify them. ' _Hey, HEY!'_

' _FUCK YOU!'_ Zero yelled, trying to duck around him and get to Trixie. ' _Fuck you, FUCK YOU -'_

' _You don't get EXCUSES!_ ' Trixie shrieked, also ignoring him. ' _YOU were the one stupid enough to get KNOCKED UP, so DON'T take it out on -'_

The peanut-gallery let out a series of gasps and started muttering among themselves. Zero made a strangled noise of rage just as Soper tried to grab her, wrestling out of his grip. ' _You BITCH!'_

' _GIRLS!'_ Soper shouted, shoving them apart again. 'Stop this! You're a _family -'_

' _What the hell does SHE know about family?_ ' Trixie yelled, ashamedly close to tears now. ' _All she does is treat hers like SHIT -'_

' _Oh, and YOU'RE so emotionally perceptive -'_

Soper grabbed Trixie by the scruff of her shirt as she tried to lunge forward again, and had an easier time restraining her. She struggled against his iron grip for a moment, before simply relenting.

Zero took a step back, eyes wide with a myriad of emotions, as though she were just starting to realise the gravity of the situation. That look then turned to fear – a raw, unbridled kind of fear Trixie had honestly never seen before.

' _Fuck you_ ,' she hissed, clenching her shaking fists. And with that, she turned and fled.

' _Yeah, run while you still CAN!'_ Trixie screamed after her. ' _Cause it's only going to get HARDER! It's only gonna –_ _URGH!_ _'_

She forced herself out of Soper's grip, breathing heavily. Around her everyone was awkwardly silent, glancing at each other like they weren't quite sure what to do now that the show was over. It was finally broken when Hector let out a loud 'holy _shit,_ ' stuffed his hands in his pockets, and left. And just like that, the crowd dispersed, trickling into the classroom like nothing had ever happened.

Newton tentatively curled a hand around Trixie's forearm, eyes wide. 'What was _that_ about?' he hissed. 'Oh, and you're bleeding -'

Trixie batted his hand away as he tried to wipe away the blood trickling from her nose, scowling. 'Don't.'

There was the sound of footsteps behind her, and then Vin appeared, looking confused. His eyes were still puffy from that morning. 'What's going on? I heard yelling -' There was a pause, and his brow furrowed in confusion. 'Trix?'

Trixie finally realised that they were the only three left standing there. Soper had probably left to find Zero, and the rest of the kids had gone into the classroom. She swallowed uncomfortably.

'Just . . . just forget about it,' she muttered. 'Forget it.'

* * *

 **14/8/18**


	17. Interlude: Past

_**Interlude: Past**_

 _4 years earlier:_

Through the eyes of the machine, a child's life is all rather trivial. Little matters to it; it merely exists to record the world before it, and respond in the manner it has been programmed to.

Unless, God forbid, that machine becomes sentient. Aware of its own existence. Receptive to the emotions of that child – of _all_ beings around it.

The robot notices. The robot does not forget.

* * *

This red-headed child compensates for his own neglect with self-enforced academic pressures. When presented with the opportunity to raise a rabbit, he takes it and treats it like a friend, like one with the potential for an equal mental capacity. He is not completely understood by others in his social group, and as such has withdrawn. The rabbit helps, somewhat.

* * *

The little blonde girl is slightly more shut off from her own troubles. Clearly the product of numerous emotional walls and somewhat lost because of it, she takes the rabbit and dumps it on her bed, before pacing the room and scowling. She curses in Italian, before seeming to realise something and clamping her jaw shut. The rabbit imitates her behavioural mannerisms, which were evidently adopted in an attempt to forget her own cultural background in favour of other ones. It hasn't worked.

* * *

The dark haired girl does not keep her rabbit. She pawns it off as soon as possible, her bitterness reflecting her own parental neglect, and her lack of desire to be in a similar position.

* * *

The blond boy smiles the most, and yet is clearly the saddest. He is orphaned, alone in the world, and yet is clearly ecstatic at the idea of caring for another. There is no bitterness in him despite his loneliness, and that is perhaps the most peculiar thing at work. He is, in fact, a most peculiar child, with more love to give than he could ever receive in return. It will most likely hurt him in the future. There are, after all, some people who love far too much. Those days may be numbered.


	18. Carry On

**Title: Don't You Forget About Me**

 **Rating: T 13+.**

 **Chapter Summary: Newton's character arc is finally starting. Finally.**

 **Chapter Word Count: 2673**

* * *

 ***Insert miscellaneous Black Sabbath noises here***

 **I'm gettin there I'm gettin there**

 **One day I'll collect my thoughts. I swear.**

* * *

 _ **16 – Carry On**_

* * *

Afterwards, it went a little like this.

The four of them scattered like mice, the sense of an unknown yet imminent danger being the driving force. But in the end, Newton didn't really know what had happened to the others. Zero, of course, had already fled and was presumably being hunted down by Soper. Trixie had stormed in the general direction of the bathrooms, wild-eyed and fuming. Vin had just . . . stood there, stunned and confused, and honest-to-God not knowing what the _fuck_ was going on, before simply turning on his heel and leaving.

Newton was lost.

'Damn it, you're all _morons,'_ he whispered furiously, blinking back tears. ' _Morons._ '

What was he supposed to _do?_

He stuffed his hands into his pockets, rolling back and forth on his heels anxiously. This always seemed to happen, by some means or another, and he was _always_ the one left behind, damn it. He was tired. He had _been_ getting tired for a long time now.

And he was sick of it.

'Seriously, _fuck_ you guys,' he hissed to himself, picking his backpack up from where he'd dumped it on the floor. 'I am _not_ letting everything fall apart at the last minute. Nuh uh. Not me. No way.' Scowling, he shouldered it, thinking about his options.

Trixie. First he had to go find Trixie, and then he could go from there. But she was _always_ difficult to talk to when she was cranky, so he was just going to have to bite the bullet on this one.

He was going to fix this. He was going to _fix this, god damn it._

* * *

She had known this was going to happen eventually. Fuck, there was no avoiding it anyway. She was lucky to have made it this long.

'What . . . what I _don't_ understand,' Soper said softly, pacing the room, 'is why you didn't _tell me.'_

He glanced over at Zero, who was sitting in one of the office armchairs, knees drawn up to her chest and arms crossed defensively over them. She didn't dignify him with an answer, scowling and looking at the floor.

'I mean, obviously something like this was going to happen eventually,' he admitted. 'It's a _school_ , for Christ's sake, but . . . I really hadn't thought it would be you. And I'd hoped that I wouldn't be dealing with it so soon.'

She snorted irritably at that, making him glance over at her.

'I'm sorry,' he said. 'This is going to be very hard on you, but . . . we're going to have to talk about this. You know that.'

She didn't reply.

A minute passed, and he let out a heavy sigh, drawing up a chair to sit slightly to the side of her. 'I think,' he began slowly, 'I'm going to have to ask about your home again.' He paused, lacing his fingers together. 'And I'm not going to be content with the sub-standard answer you've been giving me the last few years.'

Feeling nauseatingly tense, Zero tightened the fold of her arms, refusing to meet his gaze.

'Zero.'

'What do you wanna know?' she gritted out, digging her nails into her biceps.

'I want to know if your father has ever physically abused you. Even _once_.'

She swallowed, feeling her heart hammering in her throat. She let out a shaky breath, squeezing her eyes shut, before deciding " _fuck it"_.

'Yes,' she muttered finally, voice barely audible.

There was a pause. 'Has he ever _sexually_ abused you?'

She didn't reply. By some miracle unbeknownst to her, she somehow managed to keep from flinching. Though it always wrenched something deep within her to lie to Soper, she shook her head ever so slightly.

She heard him shift slightly in front of her, and she reluctantly opened her eyes again. Though his face was impassive, there was a look in his eyes that she couldn't quite decipher.

'Alright,' he said softly. 'Thank you. For that honesty.'

 _Damn_ her conscience. It took all her effort to keep guilt from showing on her face.

'You already knew,' she said lowly. 'Don't pretend you didn't.'

'I had my suspicions,' he agreed. 'But you were very insistent otherwise. When he was arrested a few months ago, I believed I might have to take some action in the future. But, I won't lie, I was more concerned about handling the legal repercussions in order to keep you here. Safe.'

She didn't deny that.

'Much of your behaviour over the years has reflected this, you know.'

'Wouldn't surprise me,' she muttered, glaring at her boots. The corners of his mouth twitched unhappily.

'Zero, you know I'm going to have to put this in your file. There's no avoiding it.'

She let out a heavy exhale. 'Yeah . . . I know.'

'Okay.' He shifted uncomfortably. 'Can . . . Do you know how long you've been . . . ?'

She blinked for a moment, thrown by the change in topic, before frowning slightly and counting off on her fingers. 'I, uh . . . seven – eight. Eight weeks.'

'Eight,' he repeated. 'And you're -'

'I'm keeping it,' she interrupted, tightening her grip on her arms. 'I – I've already figured that out.'

'Alright,' he agreed. 'Okay. Will you tell me who the father is?'

She felt her brow furrow into a frown at that, and she immediately shook her head. 'No. No way.'

'Zero -'

'I'm not a sell-out, _Jesus -_ '

'That's not why -'

They were interrupted by a sharp knock at the door, followed by a call of, 'Sir? Are you in there?'

Soper let out a breath and stood up, crossing to the door and pulling it open. 'This really isn't an ideal time – _Vin_ -'

He stepped back suddenly as Vin barrelled his way into the room, eyes wild. 'It's not her fault, Sir, I swear -'

' _Vin!_ ' Zero snapped, stumbling to her feet in surprise. 'Don't you _dare_ -'

'It's my fault too,' he protested, hurrying over to her. He glanced down at her hands and pried her nails out of her biceps, revealing half-moon crescents that were already beginning to purple. 'Don't make this harder than it needs to be.'

'Vin, what are you saying?' Soper asked heavily, going to sit down behind his desk.

'I think you know, Sir.'

There was a long pause, before he closed his eyes, tenting his fingers and resting his forehead on them. 'Alright. I hear you.'

Zero then realised that Vin hadn't ever really let go of her hand, and reluctantly tugged it out of his. Soper looked between the two of them, jaw tensing as he thought.

'Do either of you,' he began, 'have even _any_ idea what you're going to do next?'

'No,' Vin admitted reluctantly. 'But . . . I've only really known a few days. Sir.'

'It's my problem,' Zero interjected, scowling at him. 'Sir, I don't expect -'

'If that sentence ends in a way that would suggest that you intend to deal with this by yourself, perish the thought.' Soper's tone was flat, leaving absolutely _no_ room for argument. Zero felt herself draw inward in response to that, shame pooling in her gut. 'If Vin wants to do his part here, he has the right to. Legally and morally.'

'I know _that -'_ she began, shoulders hunching defensively.

Soper held up a hand, and that small action alone was enough to silence her. 'I am also, in the meantime, your current guardian. Therefore, anything you need, I am more than happy to provide. I would advise that you consider scheduling a doctor's appointment.'

Her jaw tensed at that. Fuck, she hadn't even _considered_ details like that. How was she going to afford it? No _way_ was she letting Soper pay -

'Thank you, Sir,' Vin said quietly, cutting into her thoughts. 'I – uh – if you wouldn't mind, we could really use some time to discuss this.'

'Of course, Vin,' Soper said, rising to his feet and opening the door for them. Vin's hand carefully curled around hers, tugging her from her chair before she could protest. 'We'll resume this conversation later. I – I have some calls I need to make.'

It was seeing both of them _so damn prepared_ to give up anything to help that drove the final pin into place.

" _Cut your ties and haul ass outta town. Macbeth will never have the slightest clue what's happened, and I'll leave your friends the hell alone."_ That was what Elizabeth had told her that day; _that_ was her bargain. And because she was _so damn weak_ where her friends were concerned, Zero caved – just like that. She went to Vin and told him to get lost. She let the argument with Trixie escalate into a full blown fight ( _Please_ , she had a better grip on her anger than she did when she was little. She could have walked away if she wanted to.), and God only knows what she might have done to Newton. She wasn't going to make any of them have to deal with her problems. Maybe one day she'd see them again, when they were older and had their lives sorted out. Maybe.

But right now? She had to go.

So she nodded along with Vin as he spoke, as though she were listening and agreed with him entirely; let herself be pulled from the room, didn't say a word as his hand slipped around her waist in a loose approximation of a hug. She let him, and loved him for it while she still could.

For after all, the Devil always collects, and now was her time.

* * *

'Trixie.'

'Trixie, _please_ let me in.'

'Trixie.'

'Trixie.'

' _Trixie.'_

'It's important.'

'Trixie, did your mama _really_ raise you to ignore people? What would she _say_ if I told her about this? "Yo, Mama Moore, your daughter is being an utter _limp noodle_ and won't answer the door!" You don't think she'd have a thing or two to tell you?'

'Coming from someone who has hacked the government mainframe on more than one occasion, it would be really bold of you to presume I wouldn't pick this lock.'

'I'm picking the goddamn lock, Trixie, and it won't take an hour like in _Die Hard_. It's your responsibility to ensure you're appropriately dressed to spare my poor virgin eyes.'

'The lock's been picked; I'm _opening the door.'_

And so, Newton shoved aside his sanity and promptly flung open the bedroom door.

' _Trixie Jocelyn Moore, what the FUCK is wrong with you?'_

Trixie, who had been sitting moodily at her desk chair with about five textbooks balanced on her head, scowled at him from beneath the tottering weight. 'Get out, Newton.'

He arched an unimpressed eyebrow. 'What the _fu_ \- And you didn't think to say that while I was making speeches outside your door?'

'I didn't think you actually had the balls to follow through.'

'. . . that cut deep, hon. Prey on my cowardice, why don't you.'

'Go _away,_ Newton. I don't want to talk about it.'

'Who says I'm gonna talk about it?'

'You're not subtle.'

He wrinkled his nose at her. 'Well, you're wrong. I don't think you could _possibly_ guess what I'm about to show you.'

The scowl didn't lessen in the slightest. But she _did_ reluctantly remove the books from her head, dumping them back on the desk. 'What is it?'

With a flourish, Newton whipped his phone out of his pocked and pulled up a browser, punching something in before handing it to her. 'Behold.'

Taking the phone, Trixie held it before her, frowning at the picture. '. . . Uh . . . ?'

'Thoughts?'

'What _is_ that?'

He made an offended noise. 'It's a _dog!_ '

'Well _sue me_ , it looks like a rat! Why are you showing me this?'

Newton made grabby hands for the phone, saying, 'I am going to introduce you to a woman who became my _god_ many years ago. Thisis her dog, and I promise he will make you cry with laughter. Or confusion. Both work.'

Still confused, Trixie eyeballed him as he flicked over to YouTube. 'I still don't understand.'

'You need a break. Stress relief. Something therapeutic to keep you occupied. That's where I come in.'

'But that doesn't explain why – is that Jenna _. . . Marbles?'_

He beamed at her.

* * *

Many would claim that Trixie didn't have a sense of humour. For the most part, they would be right. Newton, however, knew her better than those people. He was right when he said she would cry. Of confusion.

To be more accurate, she _sobbed._

That sobbing played part in an even larger meltdown, but she was _so damn stressed out_ she felt that it was justified. Sort of. Watching YouTube comedy simply started that avalanche.

Newton seemed more than a little alarmed when she initially burst into tears, burying her face in her hands.

'Oh shit,' he mumbled, dropping the phone. He made some aborted attempt at a hug, hands flailing slightly, before giving up and awkwardly patting her shoulder. 'Trix?'

'I f-fucked up,' she hiccuped, desperately swiping at her streaming eyes. 'I fucked up s- _so_ _bad_ -'

' _Hey -_ ' Newton interrupted, grabbing her wrist. 'I mean, I wouldn't say that _exactly;_ the violence wasn't necessary, but -'

'I was – I was just so w-w-worried about _Vin_ , you know?' she babbled, clutching at that hand like an anchor and hanging on for dear life. But Newton wasn't like Vin; he wasn't prepared to deal with any sudden onslaught of emotions – they seemed to scare the ever-loving crap out of him, actually. (Of course he didn't, he just tried showing her _dog videos.)_ It was a wonder that he hadn't bolted the second the waterworks started. 'I – I'm scared she won't treat him r-right, and he'll get hurt; you _know how he is -'_

'Trixie, that's not your battle -'

'- _and she's being so – so goddamn stubborn -'_

'Pot, meet kettle.'

' _-_ _and I've got n-no clue how to fix it!'_

' _Trixie.'_ Not letting go of her hand, he kneeled on the ground beside her. 'Look, Christmas break starts tomorrow. You're either going to want to figure it out now, or take the next week to stew on it for when we get back. I think that's the first priority.'

She blinked incredulously at him. 'What do you _mean_ , take the week? I'm not kicking them out over Christmas, I've got to fix it _now -_ '

'Okay, okay, my mistake. We'll fix it between now and tomorrow, yeah? I just need you to calm down enough to think about it rationally.'

'And _this_ was your solution?' she asked hysterically, gesturing to the screen. The title of the video, _My Dog Reviews Soap_ , stared innocently back at them. Funnily enough, it wasn't very helpful.

'Maybe?' Newton tried awkwardly, scratching the back of his neck. 'I dunno; pure, wholesome content always makes _me_ feel better about life.'

Trixie stared at him for a beat, her head spinning. 'Fuck,' she mumbled. 'You're too good for this world.'

'What's _that_ supposed to mean?' he asked indignantly.

'Exactly what it says on the tin. Bless you and your dog videos.'

'. . . That was the idea?'

'Hmm.' She sighed, scrubbing at her tired eyes with her palms. 'Alright. Give me an hour, I'll work something out.'

She leaned back against him, and he resumed the video.

This whole situation was a mess. A tragic mess, wrapped in barbed wire, and tossed into a flaming dumpster, and she _knew_ it had to be fixed somehow. If that meant shoving her pride in a box, well, then she could do that.

There was no way she was giving up on them now. Burning dumpster mess or not, this was still her _family_ , and she had taught herself long ago that family was everything

And damn it, she was going to fight for that.

* * *

 **9/2/19**


End file.
